


The Entire Chicken

by TwoCatsTailoring



Series: The Entire Chicken [1]
Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII (Video Game 1997)
Genre: ...and there was only one bed, Age Difference, Drinking, F/M, Flirting, Minor Injuries, Mutual Pining, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Dirge of Cerberus (Compilation of FFVII), Road Trips, Romance, Underage Kissing, Vegan Bashing, Yuffie is a Professional, Yuffie's Negative Opinions About Lucrecia's Life Choices, tipsy conversations
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-18
Updated: 2020-09-19
Packaged: 2021-02-23 13:21:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 19
Words: 34,673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23712172
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TwoCatsTailoring/pseuds/TwoCatsTailoring
Summary: Girl meets boy, girl has crush on boy, boy is oblivious until he's no....No, wait. That's not quite right.Thief meets Science Experiment? Ninja meets Vampire? Heiress meets Ex-Turk?No, but also kind of yes. Maybe?Figuring out they are right for each other isnt any easier to navigate.
Relationships: Yuffie Kisaragi/Vincent Valentine
Series: The Entire Chicken [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1707793
Comments: 73
Kudos: 82





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! I'm back on my FFVII Bullshit again and right back into my favorite VII ship! I'm so happy to be back here again, and I'm hoping to be able to give Yuffie and Vincent the story I want them to have. 
> 
> The only underage part of this fic is Chapter 1, which functions as a Prologue. It sets the stage for the rest of the fic by laying out an event that forms the basis for Yuffie's beliefs and assumptions about Vincent's opinion. Beyond that first chapter, she is an adult.
> 
> My plan is to update weekly after Chapter 2.

Yuffie, the greatest ninja Wutai had ever known, slipped silently through the camp, her steps careful as she worked her way around her sleeping companions. Barret’s snores would cover just about any sound she could make right now, but the space in between his honks and snorts? Those she had to be aware of.

She was on a mission tonight. The moon had set over Cosmo Canyon, so there was no risk of Cid, who was on watch, spotting her. Good, she wanted the element of surprise on her side for this. She moved along carefully, keeping her target in sight the whole time.

He was pretending to be asleep, as usual. As she closed in, she crouched lower, sinking to one knee next to him before leaning over him.

“Yuffie, what do you want?” Vincent hadn’t even bothered to close his eyes, the weirdo. But that was somehow part of his charm. 

“Why do you pretend to be sleeping when we all know you don’t have to?” She hadn’t come all this way to ask that, but she was curious.

“You can’t have my materia.” His voice was quiet, but it was always quiet. All raspy and dark like that hole they’d found him in. At least he wasn’t yelling at her like Barret or lecturing her like Red. 

As if! She’d make sure she got her cut of it when all this fighting Sephiroth business was over, but that was a problem for Later Yuffie. She scoffed and looked hurt. Maybe he could see that with his weird vision. She knew he could hear way more than everybody else. Maybe he could see more too?

Oh, but maybe she didn’t want him to because then maybe he’d be able to see into her brain and realize what she was about to do! No! She couldn’t risk that. She had to get the jump on any of his special mind-reading abilities.

Without any further thought, she leaned forward and crashed her lips into his, squishing her eyes shut as she did it. His lips were dry against hers, and he smelled like….

Well, she couldn’t decide what he smelled like even if all those romantic stories made a lot about taste and smell and all that. Facts were, kissing didn’t last long enough to figure that out. 

She felt lied to.

But also triumphant. Now, there was no way for him to keep ignoring her. No way for him to keep being Broody McBroody-pants and looking through her. Now that he knew how she felt, he was sure to wake up and realize that the girl of his dreams was right here, in the perfect package of the World's Best Ninja!

Yuffie sat back on her heels, arms crossed, and waited for his revelation. It sure was taking a long time in coming and just when she thought about saying something to him, he finally reacted.

About time, making her wait a solid two minutes!

Vincent sighed heavily, “Yuffie.”

Here it came! Who could possibly resist _her_ , Yuffie Kisaragi? 

“I’ve already said you can’t have my materia. Go back to sleep.”

Wait. Wait, what?

Without another word, Vincent stood up and headed towards Cid, who was cursing the wind as he tried to relight his cigarette.

What just happened? Did he… did he not get it? Did he… did Vince not… how could he….

Her brain tried to wrap around the rejection and failed, so it latched on to what it could as she slunk back to her bedroll. 

She hadn’t even been thinking about his materia!


	2. Chapter 2

The woman was back and right on time. Same as always with her straight brown hair in a sensible bob, her suit in a reasonable shade of gray, and the same nondescript briefcase in her left hand. No outward sign of weapons, nothing about her remarkable at all. She could have been just another person walking through the front hall of the WRO's headquarters on her way to a meeting.

She could have been.

But she wasn't.

While everything about her made her almost invisible a sea of faces, the one thing that set her apart was why she was there every other Thursday at 2:15pm. That was the hundreds of thousands of gil she had in that briefcase.

There was another identical one in Reeve's office. That one was empty today, but wasn’t two weeks ago. An exchange would be made today, and in another two weeks, they would exchange them again. Empty for full, full for empty. Just like they had for nearly five years.

Yuffie tapped the toe of her boot on the floor behind her. Had it really been that long already? She supposed so, even though sometimes it felt a lot longer. And sometimes a lot shorter. 

Back to the problem at hand. Yuffie leaned a little further over the railing, watching the woman as she crossed the lobby below. Yuffie knew she was Rufus ShinRa's agent whose only job was to deliver the money and leave. She knew because there wasn't anybody else on the whole of Gaia who had the gil to keep sending it in those quantities.

She also knew because as Head of Intelligence and Espionage for the WRO, it was her job to know things. But, as she'd learned over the years, there was knowing something and there was _knowing_ something. She could _know_ something all day long but if she didn't have any proof, she couldn't take any action on the knowledge. That was her problem with this situation: she had no proof. 

Yuffie reviewed what she already knew about this agent of Rufus's already. She did not appear to have a job other than being Rufus's delivery person, but she was never in any of the same places he was, so she wasn't a Turk. The apartment she rented in Edge was in a building owned by the WRO and her rent was always paid on time. The money came out of her bank account, which she deposited the same amount of cash into every other Friday morning. Even her name left no clues at all: how many middle-aged women were named Felicia? Probably several hundred. 

No, there wasn't really much to go on here. And it wasn't like it really mattered in the grand scheme of things, either. Just knowing that the money was coming from Rufus was enough. If she dug too deep into the link between this Felicia and him, then she would probably be ethically obligated to look into where Rufus was getting his money. 

And Yuffie did not want to know that at this particular point in time. The WRO needed that funding to keep doing its work around the world. Gift chocobos and all that stuff, right?

The elevator slid shut behind Felicia, and Yuffie sighed as she scanned the lobby again, watching employees and visitors come and go for a few minutes. Her phone rang, beeping her out of her reverie. She pulled it out of her shorts pocket and frowned at the screen.

Oh, boy, not again.

"Hi, Dad," she answered as she turned on her heel to walk back into her office. She didn't bother to close the door all the way as she added, "I don't have long to talk. Got a meeting with Reeve soon."

"Then I promise I won't keep you long," Godo Kisaragi said with good humor, his voice quiet but clear this time. "How have you been, Yuffie?"

"I'm good, dad. When am I not?" She dropped into her chair and propped her feet up on the desk. It was good to hear him sounding better. The winter had brought the usual amount of illness to Wutai and everywhere else. Still, it seemed to Yuffie that he'd caught a cold and never entirely gotten over it. She hoped the warmer weather would clear up whatever had been ailing him.

"Frequently," was Godo's deadpan reply. "Like the time I called you and you were being shot at. And the time I called you and you hadn't turned your phone off in a presentation. And don't forget the time I called you in the middle of, and I quote, 'the worst date of your life.'"

He wasn't wasting any time, after all, was he? "Dad, please."

"That one was a while ago…," he began.

Yuffie cut in, indignant, "It was a month!"

"Would you like me to set up another one for you?"

"Oh my god, no!" Yuffie dragged a hand down her face and considered punching something. He just could not let this go! "Can't you just, I don't know! Leave this alone?"

"Yuffie," Godo sounded very old and very tired suddenly and Yuffie wondered if he was milking that angle. She knew that she would have.

"I am not getting any younger. Is it so wrong of me to want to see you settled before you have to take on the responsibility of Empress?"

Yuffie closed her eyes and heaved a sigh. "No, but…"

"You know well enough the disaster that I got Wutai into without your mother's companionship. Is it wrong of me to not want you to begin the same way?"

"I'm not you and…"

Godo cut her off again, "Before I die, I would just…"

Yuffie had enough of this. He would call once a week, occasionally just to talk Wutai politics with her or to impart some wisdom or gossip about everything back home. But more often than not, he called to do this. Guilt her into finding a suitable husband. Or wife, Godo wasn't picky.

And she understood, she really did! He'd flushed himself down the drain after her mom died and had taken Wutai with him for a long time before he'd decided to do something about it. He'd come to his senses almost too late to save Wutai at all after the Lifestream erupted. He'd pulled himself together enough to be useful then. 

Misguided but useful.

He didn't want the same thing to happen to her and she got it. But she wasn't like him. Something she thought he'd understood before he started all this noise about finding a spouse. 

"Ha!" Her laugh exploded over the line, cutting off any more of his talk about dying. "As if you're gonna die any time soon. You're gonna live forever, just to annoy the crap out of me as long as you can!"

If she hadn't known him as well as she did, his heavy silence in the face of her sass would have made her nervous. He was able to wield silence like a weapon when it came to his advisors and staff. His simple lack of sound could send people scrambling, bowing and apologizing for ever having been born. Such was the power of the Emperor of Wutai. 

But that had never worked on her. To her, Godo wasn't the mighty emperor of Wutai. He was her barely tolerable, elderly father who didn't like not getting his way any better than she liked not getting hers. At least now, they could both acknowledge that as adults. 

"Yuffie." His voice was tight, holding something back, almost a warning.

"Godo." So was hers. She bit down on her bottom lip to keep it in, determined not to be the first one to crack this time. He had to lose eventually!

The silence stretched into what felt like oblivion and Yuffie eventually had to resort to holding her breath not to laugh first. It meant that she was going to lose, but at least when she did a few seconds later, Godo was not far behind.

"My daughter, what did I ever do to earn this?" Godo snickered into the phone. 

"Drank too much and cheated at Mah Jong," she quipped back as there was a soft knock on her office door and Vincent Valentine's face appeared around the edge. 

Well, that was an unexpected surprise. Not an unpleasant one but she hadn't known he was coming by today. She waved him in and pointed to a chair, holding up one finger in the universal signal for 'gimme a minute.' 

"Seriously though, Yuffie. We do need to discuss your assumption of the throne," Godo started again.

"Dad, I can't right now. Meeting, remember?" she said apologetically. They did need to talk about that part, and she had some ideas already about how power should pass from father to daughter. "Let me call you next Wednesday, okay?"

The sigh that Godo heaved made Yuffie roll her eyes. It was as if it contained the weight of the world plus the unbearable burden of one disagreeable child.

"Very well. Don't forget!" Godo cautioned, stern.

"Dad, I'm not eight anymore. I won't forget." He really did forget that she wasn't a little kid anymore, didn't he? It was almost a sport for him she thought.

"I know, I know. Goodbye, dumpling." 

"Ugh, dad!" She hated that nickname! And, despite what he thought, she did _not_ have cheeks like dumplings!

His giggling was cut off when he hung up and she scowled, sticking her tongue out at the phone. 

"Trouble?" Vincent had always been a man of few words but by this point, Yuffie was used to it. 

What she was not used to, even after several years of exposure, was his thighs in those leather pants. How was that even legal? Or fair? It wasn't, but here they were. Or rather, here she was, watching him shed his leather jacket and settle himself into an office chair. He sure had a lot of nerve coming in here looking like some kind of rock-god with his hair halfway down his back, his voice all dark and low, and a t-shirt that was distractingly tight.

"Eh, the usual," she groused, forcing her attention on the conversation with Vincent instead of his aesthetics. "Dad's pulling out all the 'everything the light touches will be yours, Simba' stuff again. Only this time, he's bringing in a big old side helping of trying to marry me off."

Vincent raised an eyebrow, looking incredulous, "I can understand the first part. But the second one seems…" He trailed off, searching for the right word.

Godo had spent the past three and a half years using every moment she would give him to teach her about the politics and running of Wutai. She had complained about it loud and long to anyone who would listen until the lessons had actually gotten interesting.

Now, she just complained about it when Godo's timing was off. As far as Vincent could tell, that was primarily when his calls would interrupt something she was doing. Which, in Vincent's mind, was sweet revenge for all the times she'd called other people at the worst possible moment.

Yuffie had a knack for that. It was one of her many charms.

Not the same kind of charm, perhaps as the quirk of her smile or the spark in her eyes when she was happy. It was definitely a different sort of appeal from her habit of being the most colorfully and inappropriately dressed person in the room. How was she not freezing to death, in a tank top, in Edge, in mid-March? He wasn't going to ask though because it did offer a nice view of the chocobo tattoo just below her collarbone. There was no need to risk her covering it up.

"Stupid? Excessive? Creepy levels of controlling?" Yuffie offered, ticking off the options on her fingers.

"Out of character for him," Vincent finished with a small, wry smile.

"It's not," Yuffie admitted, letting her feet fall to the floor with a thud. "Not really. He fell apart without my mom, so he thinks I'll crack under pressure, too."

"Hm," was all Vincent contributed to the conversation. If he made the right noises, she would keep talking and eventually get to the point. 

"I mean, yeah. He screwed up a lot cause he didn't have any real drive without her. But you'd think that he'd realize I'm not like that." She leaned her elbows on her desk and scowled, considering this.

"It sounds like he is concerned for you," Vincent offered with a shrug. "Doesn't want you to struggle." He also thought that Godo probably had other reasons as well, but it wasn't Vincent's place to bring up Wutai's precarious finances, or the line of succession.

Yuffie barked a laugh, "He's sure got a weird way of showing it! And it's running a country, Vince. It's not supposed to be easy." Maybe her dad worried about how she'd manage, but Yuffie didn't. She was looking forward to the challenge. A few more years with the WRO and she could head back home and take on her reign. Probably with her dad as her chief advisor until he just got sick of it or until they got sick of each other and he retired to the coast to fish. 

Vincent nodded and thought to himself that both of them had a point. Yuffie was right, running a country wasn't supposed to be easy. But Godo also had every reason to want to make her path through the job as smooth as he could. But again, it wasn't his place to hand down that judgment.

Yuffie opened her mouth to say something else but was cut off by Reeve's knock on the doorframe.

"Good, you're both here," he said gravely. "There is a situation near the Forgotten Capitol, and I believe that this is a job only the two of you can do."


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My plan is to update on Tuesdays. Here's hoping I can keep to that!

“Sixteen months ago, we had a breakthrough in the area just south of the Forgotten Capital. We kept an eye on it and secured the area. It’s behaved just like all the other minor breaches until a week ago when it seemed that Materia was beginning to form,” Reeve explained. 

After the Lifestream had saved the planet, a lot of new fissures had opened around the planet. Some of those resolved themselves into empty cracks, interesting geological features with no lasting effects outside of occasionally being hard to build a road over. 

But others had turned into mako fountains or pools. Those posed an active threat to any living creature that encountered them. One of the primary functions of the WRO was securing these areas so that the lives and the still-recovering Lifestream were safe.

Even though most of the seismic activity had calmed down within a year or so of the initial Lifestream eruption, there were still minor breakthroughs now and then. The geologists believed that this was the pressure of the Lifestream against a thin part of the planet’s surface. They had gotten pretty good at predicting where breakthroughs were likely and very few people were ever hurt by them these days. 

Vincent’s forehead wrinkled as he frowned. He did not like the sound of this. Materia took thousands of years to form in a natural state. Lifestream, while recovering rapidly due to the extreme caution and care of most everyone on the planet, should not be able to concentrate mako into Materia this rapidly. 

“Wait,” Yuffie asked, narrowing her eyes at Reeve, “Isn’t the Forgotten City where those Sephiroth clones tried to possess all those kids?”

“It is,” Reeve confirmed with a nod. “This whole situation is extremely complex. We have a multi-disciplinary team from Science and Engineering on site now. They report that every day, the deposit of Materia seems to grow.”

“So when do we go?” Vincent asked. There was no question in his mind, and as he shot a look towards Yuffie, the decisive nod of her head indicated that they were of one mind on the matter. There was no reason to delay.

Reeve grinned at them, looking relieved. “As soon as you can. While you are en route, I’ll make arrangements for you to stay in Bone Village. Communication is more reliable from there and the road to the Forgotten City is one you are both familiar with.”

“How long do they think this will take,” Vincent asked. 

“I’m going to make a conservative estimate of the two of you being on-site for five days. But please be ready to stay longer should the need arise,” Reeve responded. 

Yuffie nodded her understanding then asked, concerned, “How’re we getting there?”

Reeve laughed at the question, their ready agreement and willingness taking some of the weight off his mind. “Driving, then the ferry over. I’ll have one of the fleet cars ready for you in two hours.”

“Make sure it’s big enough for Spiderlegs to fit,” Yuffie teased, jerking her thumb in Vincent’s direction. Not that she was even still thinking about his legs. Of course not, this was a very serious situation. She would never!

Reeve snickered as Vincent shook his head. “All driver’s seats adjust, Yuffie.”

“But you aren’t driving,” she replied as she turned to grab her bag. 

“Oh?” This was profoundly unwelcome news to him but Vincent took a deep breath and tried to think calmly. Maybe a driver came with the car. That had to be it. He wasn’t aware of Yuffie ever having learned how to drive, much less being anything but a potential menace on the roads of Gaia. Surely Reeve would never allow an actual vehicle to be in her possession. He was a sensible man.

“I am.”

A sensible man who had, by Vincent’s estimation, lost his mind. Reeve himself had nothing to offer in the way of defense as he was sliding out the door looking relieved to not be in the line of fire for the conversation that was taking place.

“No.”

“Listen, Vince,” Yuffie began, hefting her bag over her shoulder and rounding her desk to stand next to his chair, hands on her hips what amounted to a patient smile on her face. “You have two choices. Either I drive, or you make the trip to Bone Village in a car that smells like vomit because I hurled my guts in the first ten minutes.” 

At this proximity, he could smell whatever soap she used. Something tart and a little sweet. Lemon? Orange, maybe. He would have to get closer to her to find out and that was out of the question. Even if the temptation was strong, he was confident that nobody just sniffed their friends. Lovers, maybe but not friends.

He needed to not think about that anymore. 

He considered the options she presented for a few moments before nodding and standing up. “Right, you drive.” Uncertain legality be damned, he wasn’t spending a little over 5 hours in a car that smelled of vomit, no matter how lovely the company.

Yuffie’s smile felt glued to her face as she forced her eyes to follow Vincent’s face as he stood up. And stood up some more, and kept going somehow managing to not crash into the ceiling. She was very used to everyone being taller than her - even Elena had a half-inch on her and that was just insufferable in a Turk. But there was always something about watching Vincent sort of unfold like this. She wasn’t sure she’d ever get past the heart-fluttering thrill of his particular brand of looming. 

She wasn’t sure she wanted to, really.

“I knew you’d see it my way,” she quipped mentally shaking off the haze of him being _right there_. She gave his arm a swat before turning and heading for the door. “Meet you in the garage in two hours?”

“Sure,” he said with a nod she didn’t see. Vincent watched her as she headed out the door, the keychain on her bag swinging with the bounce in her step and the feather on her barrette flipping against her gloss-black hair. 

This was going to be a long five days.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oh the road at last!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's still Tuesday here for another 2.5 hours.

How had she gotten herself into this mess? 

That was a really stupid question to be asking but thinking about all the multitude of answers at least gave her something to do in the silences between topics. Something to think about other than the warmth of Vincent's arm nearly touching hers on the center console of the car. It only worked part of the time, but it was better than nothing.

Yuffie had managed to get from 'doing what Reeve said cause he was her boss' all the way back to 'never should have gone in the creepy basement.' She was working her way through who else she could blame for her suffering when Vincent's milk and honey voice slid into her ears again.

"I have a confession," he said, trying to sound casual. He really wasn't sure what to fill the time with on this drive, and he spent a lot of the time when they weren't talking trying to figure out what to say. Or in a state of mild panic because he couldn't come up with anything reasonable. This seemed safe enough, however.

"Hm?" Yuffie cocked her chin in his direction and tried to focus. But not too much. The word confession was usually a loaded one, and whatever he was confessing was probably not the kind of confession she wanted from him.

"I thought you would be a terrible driver," he admitted, looking at her out of the corner of his eye. He'd been terrified of it actually. But he was trying to not be an ass. He didn't think that being an ass would get him very far with her.

But what if it would? She seemed to enjoy it when Barret and Cid were jerks to her because she liked to be a jerk back. What if he was reading her all wrong? She was a mystery to him in so many ways, what if she liked it when people were horrible to her? What if her love language was acts of aggravation? What if….

"Why," Yuffie began with a huff of exasperation, "Is everybody so convinced I'm a terrible driver? Honestly! I have every reason in the world to perfect this skill."

"I have no idea, now that you put it that way," he managed to admit with a nod before she cut him off again.

"First off," she began to tick off the reasons on the hand that wasn't on the wheel, "if I'm the one driving I'm not tossing my cookies into a bag. Second, sometimes the only way from Point A to Point B is a car. Then, there's the fact that my very own ass-kicking small business owner best gal pal ever Tifa doesn't drive. And do you know why she doesn't?"

Vincent was going to answer that it probably had something to do with the fact that Seventh Heaven was so well-positioned that she could get anywhere she needed to without much hassle, but he was interrupted before he even got his mouth open.

"Because she has me to take her wherever she needs to go, safe and sound." Yuffie set her jaw, giving decisive nod before she cocked her head to the side again and added, "Also, Seventh is on the Blue Line, so she can get anywhere in Edge in like, five minutes. But that doesn't help get her to Costa del Sol. For that, she's got me."

Two things were warring for the top thought in Vincent's head at the end of her speech. The first was that, okay, maybe taking the not-an-asshole path had worked out just fine. She was just as animated and engaged as she got when Cid would purposefully get her worked up over something foolish. Her eyes were bright, her grin was genuine, and her confidence was as unshaken as ever.

The second was that she really did have a point. She had every reason to be good at this, he'd just been short-sighted about it. 

He came down on the side of mentioning the one of the two that was the safest. "I hadn't thought it through that far. You're right."

"I… thank you!" Yuffie blinked twice and adjusted to someone admitting that she was right about something without having to defend her position for half an hour. 

But, here she was again, with nothing to say to fill in the silence. There had to be a way to survive this trip without having to resort to playing I Spy or talking about work.

"So, do you have any thoughts about this Materia situation? You are the resident expert, after all," Vincent asked. 

Work it was, then.

At least it wasn't I Spy.

"Resident in the car, you mean,” Yuffie laughed before continuing more seriously, “I don't have anything solid, actually. Materia, in its natural state, takes thousands of years to grow. And the only thing we know that accelerates the growth rate is the heat and pressure they used to create it in the labs," she said frowning. "But with that comes all the impurities from the process itself and from the mako they used."

Vincent nodded. He understood the process, in theory. "Would the Mako in this pool have the same impurities?"

"Not if it's like the other pools," she shook her head slowly. "The Mako that bubbles up is pure. Weak for now, but pure. Exposing the Mako to air does introduce junk into it, but." She drummed her fingers on the steering wheel. "Well, do you remember the Mako fountain near Nibelheim? That funky looking bird-nest stone thing in the middle of it?"

"Yeah?" There was another one in the cave Lucrecia chose as her final resting place. They were found anywhere Materia grew naturally.

"That's what happens to the airborne junk. Over time, the Mako turns into Materia and that's forced out. I think the force of it is what makes it look like that," she mused. 

"But without the time...?" He was in way over his head but at least Yuffie looked happy. She was in her element here, talking about Materia. She'd taken a lot of teasing and accusations over the years for her desire for the stuff. He still didn't understand how she linked possession of lots of Materia to her dreams of restoring Wutai, but it was a moot point now. 

Nobody used it anymore. And she had been one of the first in line to give it all up once the WRO realized that the best thing to do was ban the use of it. Now, he doubted that anyone but the professionals knew more about it than she did. For Yuffie, Materia was just a hobby. 

But one borne of passion that shone through her eyes and in how she somehow brightened even more when she talked about it. Vincent would happily look like the biggest idiot in the world to get to see her glow with pleasure like this.

"Without time, it would have to be extremely hot. And if it were that hot, nobody could get near it." She sighed and swiped a stray hair out of her eyes. "Something's not right, but we just don't have enough info yet to know what."

Vincent nodded in agreement and they lapsed back into silence for a few minutes, his thoughts turning over the many options for what could be going on at the Forgotten City now.

It felt cursed at this point. 

He tried not to dwell on all the ways this trip could go wrong. He'd just have to make sure that it didn't. According to the Mission Sheet Reeve had given them, Yuffie was the brains of this job. She was the one with the knowledge and credentials to work with the science team to figure out what was going on and attempt to address it. He was just her assigned bodyguard. 

Which, now that he was thinking about it, she had not even reacted to. Yuffie didn't heave a sigh of resignation or say anything about being given a bodyguard. He would have expected her to at least offer some token resistance since she was perfectly capable of defending herself. Vincent had a sneaking suspicion that she could kick his ass in a fair fight. But she hadn't said a word about it. 

Which brought his thoughts right back around to all the ways all the things they didn't know could go wrong in a place that seemed to have a history of things going wrong. 

And the fact that he didn't have the best track record when it came to protecting the women he cared about.

"Oh, crap!" 

Yuffie's sudden exclamation brought Vincent firmly back into the car from where he'd been starting to drift backward.

Cloud had not overstated at all when he'd told Vincent that forgiving himself was something he had to do _constantly_. Guilt had become such a habit that it would find any way to creep back in, even when he was making the conscious effort to fight it.

Fortunately, he had friends who understood. Today, he had Yuffie, who was adept at keeping everyone around her rooted in the present and looking toward the future. He could have kissed her for that, but the idea was frightening enough to bring him crashing the last few feet back into the here and now.

Kissing her would be precisely the wrong thing to do, he was sure of it.

"We're about an hour from the coast. I gotta eat if I'm going to keep it down on the ferry and not starve before dinner." She flipped on her signal and made the turn into a roadside diner. “We’ve got time. The ferry runs every half hour.”

"Eating _before_ you get on the boat?" Vincent questioned, one eyebrow quirked up as they got out of the car. 

"Don't give me that look, Vince. I know what I'm doing." What she was doing was walking into a diner, with Vincent, as if it was the most normal thing in the world. Not that it wasn't, but. Well. It was normal. But not _their_ kind of normal. They didn't do things like this alone. Together. Ever. 

She was really overthinking this. 

And he still had that eyebrow up like he thought she'd lost her mind so Yuffie decided it had to be his fault. She was all discombobulated because he had to do that thing with his face that made the thin scar across his forehead arch up. That was foul play, unnecessary use of rakish hotness against an innocent bystander.

She needed to think about food now instead of him. Or the fact that he held the diner door open for her.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shhh I've still got 15 minutes in Tuesday!

In almost no time, they were back on the road, Vincent's dark mood all but evaporated from her warm chatter and constant theft of his fries. Coupled with a belly full of the best meatloaf he had ever eaten, a deep sense of contentment had settled over him.

"I'm still not over the fact you have to eat now," Yuffie teased him as they turned back on to the road to the coast. It was mostly the truth, just with a careful omission of one little fact that she had no intention of sharing with him at all. 

See, he took so much pleasure in eating that he would lick the fork to get the last bit of food off of it? And watching him do that made her think very seriously about what it would feel like to have him lick… other things. 

"And I still have no idea where you put everything you eat," he replied, his mouth twitching up at one corner. "I've got five gil that says you lose all of it on the ferry crossing, too." 

"Ha! That's a bet you are going to lose," she said, wagging a finger at him. "I've timed this just right. Everything is going to stay right where I put it."

"Uh-huh. Even the pie?"

"Even the pie." 

"We'll see about that," he intoned, his voice sage with wisdom he did not possess as he settled comfortably into his seat. The last time he'd witnessed her actually throw up, she'd been 17 years old and Cid had narrowly avoided crashing the Shera without warning. Yuffie hit the deck, threw up, and never really forgave Cid. Ever since, she'd seemed to keep everything down but was miserable the whole time she was in a moving vehicle.

Vincent yawned. Unless she was driving, it seemed. 

He was going to fall asleep, wasn't he? Probably. And Yuffie wasn't going to do anything to stop him. Because if he slept then she wouldn't feel like she had to come up with things to talk about. And frankly, the only things she could think of right now where not things she was willing or able to bring up.

Telling him that she had feelings for him when they were trapped in a car wasn't going to end in any way that was okay. There was no need to revisit that level of rejection when she could just sit here and enjoy the occasional sideways ogling glance while he napped. And if he was napping, he wasn't using that silky voice of his to talk to her. Or letting that delicious little half-grin of his play around the edges of his mouth.

The leather was still a problem, but that and his crazy sexy hair fell under the jurisdiction of sideways ogling and were therefore not problems in their own right for now. 

The second thing that she didn't have to talk about was something she needed to just sit with. She needed to think about it first because the implications were just. They were just too much to say out loud yet. She'd have to bring it up eventually, but not now. She needed some time to get used to the idea that some _ one _ might be behind whatever was going on with the Mako pool at the Forgotten City. 

Vincent understood the Lifestream better than she did, but she knew enough to know that she didn't completely trust Sephiroth or Hojo to be gone for good. If Sephiroth could come back once, then who could say with any certainty that he couldn't come back again? And Hojo had managed to upload himself into a network connected to the Lifestream and survive that way. The Lifestream circled the planet, both survived in it before. What had changed so much that made it impossible for them to do it again?

Sephiroth she could handle - they'd handled him before. But Hojo? Just the thought of that guy lurking around was enough to make her go cold all over. If Hojo came back from the dead again, what would that do to Vincent now? And what could she even hope to do to stop Hojo if he did have something to do with this?

It was the stuff of nightmares. And she’d had enough of those to last several lifetimes.

Yuffie mulled all this over most of the way to the coast, finally deciding there wasn't anything she could do about the what if's and maybes. Not without more information, which was why they were going in the first place. Borrowing trouble was only making her head hurt anyway.

Through sheer force of will, she rearranged her thoughts along happier paths. She spent the last twenty minutes of the drive to the docks in happy contemplation of Vincent through quick glances, and obeying all traffic signs and signals to the letter of the law. He looked so peaceful and kinda dorky, snoozing away with his mouth open just a bit. And relaxed! She hadn't realized how tense he seemed to be until she saw him like this, slumped down with his hands gone all loose in his lap. 

She pulled the car in and parked it, letting it run while she took a long, uninterrupted look at him. His hair had fallen back some, giving her a very tempting glimpse of his neck. God, what gave him the right to look this good? To have that jawline? And those cheekbones? He looked like somebody carved him out of marble and he was breathtaking. No dumpling cheeks there, no siree. Just lips begging to be kissed and…

She pulled herself up short at that idea and shook her head. Nope, no way was she going to start entertaining that idea again. Besides, they were running out of time to make it on to the ferry.

"Vince?" Yuffie's voice tugged at the corners of his consciousness, her hand on his arm just barely registering enough for him to reach across and put his hand over hers. 

"Vincent, if you sleep through the crossing, you forfeit your five gil." Yuffie's breath caught in her throat as he gave her hand a squeeze and she almost forgot how to breathe.

Vincent blinked his eyes open and straightened up as much as he could. "Right. Sorry."

Yuffie chuckled at him and reclaimed her hand reluctantly. "Stay in the car while I go grab a drink. I don't wanna be caught without something a little bubbly."

"What happened to perfect timing and not getting sick?" he asked, scrubbing at one eye to have something to do with his now-empty hand. What would he give to have been able to keep it just a few seconds longer?

"Ugh," she grinned, shoving the door open with her foot. "You are such a pain."

"Are you trying to cheat me out of five gil?" She didn't bother to answer, slamming the car door and heading out across the parking lot to the canteen.

A tap on his window jerked his attention away from watching Yuffie leave. He rolled it down. "WRO? We've been expecting you. If you'll pull it around, we can go ahead and get you loaded," the ferry’s porter instructed him.

Vincent nodded and got out, circling the car and reaching down to move the seat back. There was no way he was going to fit, much less be able to drive even this short distance with it almost all the way forward. After pulling it onto the boat and parking it as instructed, he got out and returned the seat to Yuffie's settings.

"Hey, there you are," Yuffie found him after a few minutes of looking. There were only so many places that he could have gone, after all. He did stand out just a little.

Tallest guy around, lots of black hair whipping around like some kind of romance novel cover model, and dressed all in black. 

Black biker leather.

He was going to be the death of her.

But what a way to go, huh? If the ferry ride didn't kill her first.

It didn't kill her and Vincent was glad she didn't actually throw up. Ginger ale was good for that. She stayed in one place, not moving from the railing overlooking the water for the hour's crossing. 

"It helps," she said with a tiny shrug. "I'm moving, but I'm also looking at what is causing the moving. So it's not so bad. You know," she shot Vincent a quick look and a grin, "you don't have to stay here. I don't think I need protecting from vicious sea bass."

"You never know," Vincent chuckled and shook his head. What he wanted to say but couldn't get out was, that he'd stay close in case she needed anything. What came out instead was, "And I've got gil riding on this. I need to protect my interests."

She'd laughed then. There was something so free, so unrestrained about her laughter. He would never get tired of that sound.

Never. 

Vincent paid his five gil with a smile on his face and no hard feelings when they landed. He tossed her the keys, and she teased him for adjusting the seat too far.

"I'm not  _ that  _ short, Vince! It's the second to the last click," she nudged his arm with her elbow and hoped any blushing she was doing could be written off as having been in the wind for an hour. 

Because he'd moved the seat back for her. Without having to be asked. Or told. Or have it hinted. God! He was too sweet


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ahh, additional tags, how I love you.

The last leg of their trip was uneventful and they arrived in Bone Village in good time. Yuffie parked just outside of town and they pulled their bags out of the back of the car. As Vincent buckled his holster around his waist, Yuffie's laugh caught his attention.

"What?" he asked as he dug a red scarf out of his bag and wound it around his neck. Bone Village was _cold_. Chilly even in the summer months due to its proximity to the Northern Crater, and now at the very edge of spring, it was still downright frigid. 

She shouldered her shuriken and grinned up at him. "Just like old times, right? Armed to the teeth."

"Only this time, we aren't broke," he pointed out. She giggled then shivered as a blast of northern wind sent dry leaves swirling around her. She was still wearing the same shorts and crop top from earlier in the day. "Please tell me you packed weather-appropriate clothes."

"Of course, I did! But last time I checked, shedding my shorts in public was frowned upon by most people." Despite her grin, her teeth were chattering. She headed off in the direction of the Village proper without waiting for him. Which worked out because he needed to get over the mental image that came unbidden to his mind of her stripping in a parking lot.

He really needed to not think about that. The wind seemed to agree as it picked up again and hit him like a bitter slap across the face.

She beat him to the inn by a couple of minutes and was waiting for him in the lobby with a pair of keys when he arrived.

"So we are sharing a room. Seems like the team from science has packed the house," she shrugged, trying very hard to act calm and nonchalant when she was anything but. 

Sharing a room? Okay, okay. She could manage that. What was the worst that could happen? Realistically? That he snored? She’d learned to sleep through Barret's snoring ages ago and perfected it when she'd been living at the bar. This was totally livable. She just needed to breathe.

Vincent frowned in thought and nodded, "Makes sense. There are only three rooms if I remember correctly."

Something dangerous was happening in the general vicinity of his heart. Something along the lines of palpitations. Or maybe he was panicking. Maybe both. Neither was fatal as far as he knew but Vincent wished they were because... How was he supposed to share a room with her for five days and not… not… not combust of either embarrassment? Or lust?

Yuffie tossed him one of the keys and checked the number on it again, a shiny gold 3 embossed on the green plastic. It was like it was mocking her. "Yeah," she agreed, trying to pull herself back to functioning like a completely normal human being. "If we drop our stuff and I get changed, I'll bet we can make it to the site before it gets dark."

Vincent could only nod in agreement. He gestured for her to head in the direction of the narrow hall and stairs that would take them to what would be their (shared) home for the next several days. Yuffie led the way, and he was so distracted by the (shared) room situation that he paid no attention to anything she said until she opened the door.

" _Oh_." There was something in how she said that one word that sent a shock of alarm through him. His head snapped up, properly taking in the room.

It was very small with a tiny table under the window, two similarly sized chairs on either side. A chest of drawers was crammed into the corner between the postage-stamp-sized bathroom and the sink. And taking up most of the floor space in the room was the lone double bed.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been without internet for nearly a week, and I can't tell you how happy I am to have it back in time to post this week's chapter!

Yuffie slammed her foot into her boot and pulled the bungee laces tight. It just had to be a mistake. A simple one, one that had to have a solution.

A solution that Vincent would either find or force because he was clearly _not_ thrilled about the setup of this room. Which was understandable. He was tall and would hang off the end of the bed no matter what. So, of course, the idea of having another person in it would be…

Who was she kidding? Herself? Nah, she was alone here and could own it without anybody there to witness her disappointment. He'd gone silent, stiff as a board, and it had taken him every bit of ten seconds to turn on his heel and head back down the stairs, saying he'd get this sorted out. Which meant that he really, truly did not and never had and never would see her as anything but a friend.

She'd known that for a long time but it didn't take the sting out of having it reconfirmed so decisively. 

Yuffie took a second to just feel that, leaning her forearms on her knees and dropping her chin to her chest. The hurt, the embarrassment of having that tiniest sliver of hope left after how long? Six years?

She'd been carrying a torch for him for six years with no sign of anything but him tolerating her and she'd still held on to enough hope to be disappointed now? How lame was that?

Well, she couldn't spend too much time thinking about it. They had work to do. She pulled on her other boot and tightened it up before grabbing her hoodie and heading for the door. Only to come face to chest with Vincent.

"Any luck?" Well, Godo would be proud if he could hear how normal she sounded right now. Tifa, too, for all their advice about controlling her emotions. She would rather crawl in a hole and die, but here she was, sounding as if there was nothing more wrong with the world than the weather being cold enough that she had to wear two pairs of pants.

"No." Vincent couldn't tell if he was in actual physical pain saying that or if it was all psychological. It didn't really matter because the outcome was the same either way. He very evenly and calmly explained, "You were right before. The science team has the other rooms full and they are all like this."

 _Like this_ being the one double bed per room with just enough floor space to turn around in. In a fit of desperation, Vincent had asked at the desk when the archaeological site tents would be open but they wouldn’t be for another month at least. 

There was no other option that he could think of. He could feel his palms going clammy in his gloves at a pace slightly faster than his heart rate. 

"Oh." Well, shit! Okay, she had to think here. His face was just a mask of unhappiness, set in those grumpy lines he usually got when he was really mad. That line between his brows, his little frown? Yeah, she was going to have to come up with a solution.

"Look, I'm short," she said with a smile and a casual shrug. "Nothing says I can't bunk in the tub or downstairs on the couch, right?" 

"No," the word was out almost before he had a chance to think about what he was saying or the possible implications of it. Thankfully, he didn't have to think too hard to cover his very obvious slip of the tongue. He pointed in the direction of the tiny bathroom, "It's a shower. And the wood stove in the lobby only heats itself as far as I can tell."

If anybody needed to find somewhere else to stay, it was him. He was the one with the real issue here, not her. Yuffie was as calm as she ever was, her mouth twisted in a thoughtful bow, but _he_ was the one who stood to make it very awkward in a myriad of ways. He was already dropping unsubtle hints without even trying.

She was out of ideas. These were extremely close quarters and he really _did_ look angry. Oh, why did everything have to get worse? She tucked her feelings deep down and pulled on her hoodie just to have something to do. She had to _think_ but how could she do that with him standing so close to her?! If they didn't get out of here, she was going to have some kind of fit.

That was it!

"Look, we can think through this while we head for the site. We're losing daylight fast," she pointed out. Out in the fresh air, with a little bit of breathing room between them would probably help a lot. She couldn't work under these conditions.

"Right."

Yes.

Exactly.

They needed to get out of here.

There was a job to do, and if they focused on that, maybe they could get a head start on figuring it out. She was brilliant and quick on the uptake. Perhaps she could figure this out just with one look and he wouldn't have to find a way to make it through a night in the same bed with her.

That wasn't realistic but Vincent clung to it as if it was. He didn't have much else just then.

Almost as fast as she'd suggested it, they were out the front door of the inn and on the road towards the Forgotten City. The fresh air did help but he still existed, and so did the whole sleeping arrangements problem. Argh!

"The pool isn't all the way to the City," Yuffie said as she checked the location on her phone and looked over the route. "Shouldn't take us more than ten or fifteen minutes to get there."

Ten or fifteen minutes wasn't much. Still, it was a start, and Yuffie was determined to come up with something. The secondhand rejection hurt like hell but that didn't mean she wanted to watch him suffer. She was just going to have to bring all of her creativity to the table since all the logical answers weren't going to work out.

Plus, she didn't want to have to suffer either. Having him nearby vertically was rough and she didn't want to spend much time thinking about what that would be like horizontally.

"Did they not have a rollaway? Like I said, I'm small. I'd fit," she suggested knowing that he'd probably already thought of that.

"They have two, but both are in the other rooms with the science team. The WRO has packed Bone Village to capacity it seems." There was no fixing this. There just wasn't. He knew there wasn't and it was going to be a disaster. He couldn't even look at her right now, knowing that he was going to end up in bed with her in a few hours. 

And embarrass himself by morning.

"Huh. Well," Yuffie flailed frantically through her mind for any other options that they might have and came up with nothing useful. This was just so unfair! To both of them. She plastered a grin on her face and chirped, "Guess we'll just have to make the best of it!"

Vincent nodded in agreement but said nothing. Maybe he could spend the night in the car without her realizing it. It would be tricky to time it just right but he could manage. He'd have to. The alternative was making him a little nauseated.


	8. Chapter 8

They spent the rest of the walk to the Mako pool lost in their own thoughts but the spell was broken as soon as they arrived. Yuffie was greeted with enthusiasm by the team members who knew her already and made fast friends with the new ones. Her attentiveness and understanding of the information they had for her could win over anyone, Vincent was sure. Add in her ability to throw in a joke at just the right moment, and she was as much of a joy to watch as she was to be around. 

She introduced Vincent to the people he didn't know, which was nearly everyone. The one person on the team he did know he wasn't excited to talk to but that was not her fault. He avoided Turks - former, present, and undetermined - on principle. Most were fine with that; he did not care about their reasons, just that the avoidance was mutual. But not with this one. Since Veld had introduced them to each other at the WRO gun range, she had shown no desire to ignore him or let him ignore her. 

"Fancy seein' you here, Smokey," Freyra smiled up at him, her shotgun propped on her shoulder and a pleased twinkle in her eye. "Still mooning over your little flower? Wonder how many favors you had to call in to get on this detail."

Vincent closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Always a pleasure to see you, Freyra," he said flatly. " You’re as tactful as ever."

Freyra shrugged, and Vincent tracked Yuffie as she crossed the camp with Dr. Gallagher, the head geologist on-site, to peer into the Mako pool. Vincent cursed the day he'd actually attempted to have a conversation with Freyra. 

Turks, he had learned, were just _like that_ now. They talked too much, looked useless and bumbling, but beneath the bluster, all of them were shrewd and didn't miss a thing. All it had taken was one brief conversation between Vincent, Reeve, and Yuffie in the hall leading to the indoor gun range and Freyra had figured it out. According to Freyra, he couldn't look directly at Yuffie if she was talking to him. 

He wasn't sure how that meant anything to Freyra but it had. She had not let him forget it since.

Vincent really wished she would. Even Reno and Rude didn't have much to say to him, but not Freyra. She was in a class all her own. If she hadn't been a damned good marksman, she would have been completely insufferable.

"I call 'em as I see 'em," she said with a flash of too many teeth, then frowned as she got down to business. "This shit's bonkers, though. Wanna know the craziest part?"

She had his attention now, objectionable associations aside.

"It's not doin' a thing to the wildlife." Freyra scanned the edges of the site and flipped her ponytail over her shoulder. "Not a damned thing out of the ordinary."

That _was_ surprising. Usually, just the presence of a breakthrough pool made the animals in the area more prone to aggression or caused minor mutations. For that to not be happening at all? Vincent frowned deeply. He opened his mouth to ask for more information when Yuffie interrupted him, calling him over from the edge of the pool. When Freyra followed him, he shot her a grim look.

"Vincent, look at this," she pointed when he got close enough. "I feel like I've seen that before, but I can't remember where." It was so familiar but she just couldn't quite put her finger on it.

 _That_ was a lumpy mass of what looked like Materia, off-center in the pool. It was just sitting there, glowing in pockets of pink and blue, green and yellow. A shapeless blob, like it had just melted to the bottom. None of that was right for how Materia grew. Natural Materia was always vaguely oval, usually on a stem of some sort, and only one color. 

But Yuffie couldn't shake the idea that she'd seen something exactly like this before. Somewhere…. But she couldn't remember right now. Something to do with work, maybe with Reeve? Somebody had been with her, and she'd been in a building, but that was as far as her memory would take her.

"That's not right," he said with a frown. "But I don't remember seeing anything like it."

"Crap. Freyra?" Yuffie asked. "What do you think?"

Freyra shook her head. "Doc here asked me already and I'll tell you the same thing I told her. I grew up in Mideel, so I've seen a fair number of Materia deposits. None like this, though."

"Well, it will still be here tomorrow and probably larger," Dr. Gallagher said, frustration evident in her voice. "We need to head back if we are all going to want hot showers."

Yuffie crouched down beside the pool, deep in thought. "Go on. I won't be far behind."

Vincent stayed with her as she kept looking, while the rest of the team packed up their things and headed off down the path. With the camp empty and the sounds of voices fading into the distance quickly, Vincent cleared his throat. 

"I just can't remember," Yuffie complained with a sigh as she stood up. "I know I've seen it before, but…"

"You'll remember it when it's least convenient," Vincent said, shifting slightly. While he wasn't in any hurry to get back to the too-small inn room with one bed, he also didn't want to be caught in the Sleeping Forest in winter after dark. No part of him relished the cold and with a night spent in the car in his future, he did not have any desire to prolong his exposure to the chill. 

Yuffie pulled out her phone and started clicking away at it, only to fold it closed and stuff it back in her pocket a moment later. "No signal, so I can't check my old pictures. Let's head back, I've got a feeling that this isn't so much dangerous as it is potentially hazardous."

"That makes no sense," Vincent said after a moment of thought. He followed her as she headed out of the site and back down the path towards the village. "How can something be potentially hazardous but not be dangerous?"

"Easy," she explained with a shrug. "Potentially hazardous is all the stuff that could cause a problem if it's left alone. Dangerous is the stuff that is actively trying to do some damage."

Vincent considered this and decided that there was something slightly off about her categorization of risks. Still, he couldn't quite put his finger on it. "So Barret with any electronic device is potentially hazardous, while Tifa, when somebody picks a fight in the bar, is dangerous?"

"Yep!" Yuffie said with a grin. "It makes perfect sense when you think abou…!"

Her sentence was cut off in an instant, and she yelped as she fell, knocked off her feet by a blur of yellow and green. Sick panic grabbed Vincent by the throat at the sound of her scream. No matter what Freyra said, anything living in the area was going to be affected by the presence of raw Mako on the surface. They were close enough to the Northern Crater, and that area was a wasteland now, anything could come crawling out and make it this far unchecked.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> See, it's not as bad as it could be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who's along for this ride! This is my first time posting something as a serial this way, and it's been fun! I keep having to remind myself that I'm way farther along in this story than you guys are, so of course you aren't going to know that I'm not honestly as cruel as canon. 
> 
> Well, speaking in a relative sense of course.

He only recognized the Boundfat after he had taken the first shot at it, grazing its arm. It screeched and dashed forward to hit Yuffie again. His second shot went wide, hitting the ground with a spray of dirt, snow, and ice. 

Yuffie tossed her shuriken from the awkward position of being half-crouched. It missed, but she was on her feet and almost caught the weapon when the Boundfat hit her again. It aimed low, ramming into her legs, and knocking her off her feet again. Yuffie met the ground with a grunt and struggled against the Boundfat's grip on her, getting one leg free to kick at the creature's mocking grin.

He couldn't risk the shot with her that close by. Too much motion, neither of them telegraphing what their next move would be. If he hit Yuffie….

That thought didn't bear further inspection. Vincent closed the distance between them and gave the Boundfat a kick to the head that sent it sprawling. He stepped over Yuffie, his vision beginning to go cloudy and blue while electricity crackled through his veins. He holstered Cerberus and let himself fade out of existence as Death Gigas took over.

And scooped up the Boundfat, shot several thousand volts of electricity through it, then dropped it, sizzling and charred black, to the ground with a goopy thud.

Working his way back out of Gigas was never as easy as letting it take over, but it didn't take as long as it once did. He could compare it to trying to find his way through a maze he had seen the map for in the fog. Sorting through Gigas's will to not be drawn back had never been easy. It wanted to stay, where things were Warm and Alive and so very easy to break. Fortunately, after this long together, he knew how to appeal to it's Id and regain control. The reminder that uncertainty and willfulness came with all the life and softness was usually all it took. The process still left him staggered and off-balance for a second once the world resolved itself around him.

"Vincent?" There was caution in Yuffie's voice. Caution, but no fear which he took to be as much of a blessing as he could hope for in these moments. He turned towards her, shaking the last bits of haze from his vision.

As she took a step toward him, he held up one hand to keep her from getting too close as he coughed, dry, and absolutely foul. "Hang on," he croaked, doubling over to cough again. It was bad enough she was here to witness this, having her too close would just be humiliating.

But such was his constant tug of war between the necessity of having them and the choice to use what he had.

Yuffie had gotten used to this a long time ago. It was hard not to when the guy had a habit of disappearing and leaving a chainsaw-wielding maniac standing there. Or plopping back into this reality after Chaos had his fun with the big nasty of the day and left Vincent a little twitchy. Sure, it was disconcerting, but any other emotions had worn off a long time ago. It definitely qualified as weird, but not dangerous. 

With Chaos gone, not even potentially hazardous, anymore. That wingspan in a tight space was no joke.

The fact that Vincent _still_ wasn't used to his friends being used to watching him switch to and from all of his resident freeloaders was just a Vincent thing. Part of the broody ambiance, Yuffie figured.

Yuffie collected her shuriken and kept an eye on Vincent as he steadied himself. Her leg ached like hell from where the Boundfat had slammed into her. That was going to leave a mark but nothing felt too messed up. She was actually more concerned about the faces Vincent was making. They were so overblown on his usually stoic features and so out of character for him that she had to laugh.

"You gonna be okay, Vince?" Funny, yes. But also a clear indication of some kind of pain. Or anxiety. Or both? And how did he manage to contort his entire face into something that looked more like punctuation than a face?

"Yes," he coughed again, grimacing but not as froggy. 

God, it was fascinating to see him react to anything so comically. He was always the picture of cool detachment but now, gagging a little with his mouth open like he'd taken a drink of something crunchy, that image was shattered.

Yuffie was transfixed, hiding a smile behind her hand while little fireworks went off in her chest. "Okay. Take your time." _Why_ did he have to be so freaking adorable even when he was a mess?

There was a price for everything, Vincent had learned. Good or bad, everything in life had a cost. The addition of mutated flesh and bone to his body cost him his humanity. Chaos's departure had cost him immortality. Isolating himself had cost him 30 years and walking out of the basement had cost him his loneliness.

The price he paid for maintaining his demonic other selves without the numbing benefits of Chaos's presence were mostly short-lived and mildly annoying. The cost of their removal was a vast, terrifying unknown. Still, he had to admit that the side effect of using Death Gigas made him reconsider facing that uncertainty, if only briefly. "Sorry. Gigas leaves such a foul taste behind...."

He scrunched up his whole face and Yuffie laughed again. "It's okay, babe. Gotta admit though," she mused, starting towards him now that he wasn't looking quite so out of it. "That was super effective."

Wait, had she just slipped up and called him babe? She had to rein this in, quick. No matter how nice he was or how funny he could be. He. Wasn't. Interested. 

It might have been effective but that did not change the fact that it tasted and felt like someone had left a rotting chocobo carcass, feathers and all, in his mouth. "Do you have any gum?" If it tasted that terrible, it probably smelled worse. The last thing he needed was to compound his embarrassment at this particular moment.

"Of course I do," she answered, the picture of casualness. She fished the pack out of her pocket and closed the distance between them to hand it off. Casually. Like she hadn't just accidentally flirted with him. "It's cinnamon. I hope that's okay."

Vincent nodded as he straightened, then his head snapped up as she approached, "You're limping," he said, reaching for her, at war with himself about what to do about that.

She was hurt. He should help her, offer her his arm. But how on Gaia could he touch her? After letting Death Gigas out like that? If she was badly injured, he would have to, but she was still upright and capable of walking. What was the right course of action here?

"Yeah, little brat cracked me good right on the side of my knee. It'll be okay, probably just a gross bruise by tomorrow," Yuffie waved away his observation and slapped the pack of gum into his hand with a grin. 

"But, you're limping." Didn't that mean that it was more than just a bruise? Was she more hurt than she was letting on because she didn't want him to know he'd been too slow?

"Yeeeah," Yuffie drawled out, fighting the urge to roll her eyes. He was doing that grumpy frowning thing again. It wasn't like she had called the Boundfat over for a pet or anything! And the babe had just slipped out. She'd called Cid sweetcheeks once and everybody had laughed, how was this any different?

"Cause it just happened? And it hurt?" She huffed another laugh and gave him a look that she hoped communicated just how fine she was. "I'm fine. And getting cold again, so let's go." 

She started off down the path, more alert this time to her surroundings, and careful to try to not limp too much. She could almost feel his eyes on her as she passed him, disapproving. 

"But you're…," he started, trying to figure out how to get her to slow down, even a little. Yes, she was tough, but knees were complex joints. It was his job to make sure she didn't get hurt.

"I'm fine, Vince." And she'd be a lot better if he'd stop scowling at her and chew his gum. Gosh! "Look, if it makes you feel better, I'll ice it once we're back."

He'd offended her somehow. Her tone, usually light and airy, had gone clipped and short. He'd said the wrong thing and now he wasn't even going to get an opening to try to convince her to take it easy. Not that he knew exactly how he would have done that. 

Vincent sighed at her retreating back and folded two sticks of gum into his mouth before setting off after her in silence. Thankfully, Yuffie wasn't the type to stay upset for long.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't believe that I've been posting this work for 9 weeks. And what a 9 weeks it's been for the world at large. 
> 
> Thank you all so much for your subscriptions, bookmarks, kudos, and comments! I'm glad you are enjoying this story! I'm nearing the end of writing this particular episode in Yuffie and Vincent's lives, but there's still a LOT more to go! Probably more than the 20 chapters I initially thought. I hope you continue to enjoy it!

Yuffie steadfastly ignored his presence the whole way back to the inn, determined to not feel whatever look he was trying to brand into the back of her head. Let him cook in his own mood for a while! Maybe he could lose his judgey glaring on the trail somewhere. 

She was determined to not limp too much now that he'd gotten all pissy about it but trying not to baby her knee only made it ache more. By the time they pushed through the inn doors, she was in actual pain. Swallowing her pride, she turned to him and said carefully, "I think I need to get a look at this. It's feeling really tight."

He knew it, she'd overdone it. But at least she could admit it. And was talking to him again. "Go look. I'll find you an ice pack." 

He wanted to ask her if she could make it up the stairs on her own, but the words stuck, lodged tight in his throat, right up against his desire to not overstep her boundaries. Her sheepish nod and lack of smile made his heart ache, and he watched as she picked her way slowly upstairs, adding, "If you need it, there's ibuprofen in the side pocket of my bag." 

Vincent took a deep breath as she rounded the bend in the stairs and disappeared from sight. If she could make it that far, she would be fine. If anything was broken or torn, she wouldn't be able to do the steps at all. It was cold comfort, but it would just have to be enough as he tracked down a baggie and the ice machine. That, at least, was something he could do to be useful.

It also took longer than he thought. The baggie was easy enough, asking at the front desk was all it took. But tracking the ice machine down was a ridiculous process that involved going through four doors down two halls, and getting lost somewhere with a rusted out washing machine. How did an inn with only three rooms in it have so much other space? All of them like rabbit warrens, leading into and out of one another?

He tried to make a mental note of where the washing machine had been on the way back to the lobby. If the car got too cold overnight, that would be a good backup location. Now that he was thinking about it, he might as well just plan on spending the night there anyway. At least he would be indoors. And it looked like a dead-end so there would be minimal risk of discovery.

Yuffie was relieved that down the stairs was easier than getting up them since she could just kinda drop down each step instead of having to bend her knee too much. She never should have looked at it. It was swelling up and really red, the center of what was sure to be a truly impressive bruise starting to go dark just below and to the outside of her kneecap. It'd be okay before long, but right now, it was tight, sore, stiff, and pretty miserable.

Kinda how the rest of her felt, too, if she was honest. She couldn't think of anything more inconvenient that could have happened. Sure, maybe falling off a cliff and breaking her neck, but that would have been a different class of injury. She wouldn't still be here with a job to do while attempting to juggle her own feelings about having to do it with Vincent right over her shoulder. 

Because she'd absolutely rifled through the side pockets of his bag for his pills and found his hairbrush (blue,) a bottle of cheap shampoo (lilac,) and expensive conditioner (Saffron Breeze (™).) All of which brought a bunch of very personal questions to mind and reminded her that she had a more complicated situation she was going to have to face. 

No, this couldn't get a whole lot worse, and she was sure of it. Particularly if she didn't figure out how to watch her mouth.

"What's the damage?" Vincent rounded the last door frame back into the lobby just as Yuffie made it down the last step. 

"Puffy and going to bruise," she said with a sigh and an attempt at a smile. "Shouldn't be a problem for long, though."

He handed over the bag of ice and nodded in the direction of the couch in the lobby. If he didn't _say_ she should sit down and put her leg up, he couldn't be saying the wrong thing, right? It made sense, even if part of him rebelled against it as being Yuffie-style logic.

"Did you get something for it?" 

"Yeah," she nodded, flinging herself on to the couch and propping her leg on the coffee table. She nestled the bag of ice against the most tender spot and frowned about the cold. "Though now I think I should have left my second pair of pants on." 

"I can get you a blanket," he offered, fighting down a smile. Trust her to complain about ice being cold.

Yuffie pressed her lips together at the hint of mirth in his voice and squinted up at him. "I'd rather have a beer," she said. He was laughing at her. Why was he laughing at her? What had she done? 

Did she really care?

"I can make that happen," Vincent said as he turned towards the door to hide his growing smile. How could she be that… that… _cute_? All narrowed eyes and unhappy and not going to do a damned thing about it?

"Just not a Puppers. Those don't pack enough of a punch for this kind of night." Puppers was a good brand, but only for sunshine, fair weather. Green fields and blue skies. Not snowy nights and leg injuries.

"Got it." He waved over his shoulder and left, only to turn around and come right back in, his face thoughtful.

"Hm?"

"Dinner in an hour? Or two?" Now that he'd found somewhere indoors to spend the night, he had no interest in going back out in the cold any more than he needed to. 

Yuffie considered the options for a second and split the difference, "Hour and a half?"

He nodded and headed out the doors again, turning right for the pub next door, and leaving Yuffie alone for the time being. That didn't last long as Freyra, towel over one shoulder and masses of blond hair still damp, arrived from the side hall.

"Hey there," she said, perching on the other end of the coffee table, nearest the stove. "You get hurt on the way back?"

Yuffie chuckled and gave her the short version of the events in the woods, leaving out the part about Death Gigas. Vincent might be okay with their friends knowing about his extra passengers, but it wasn't her place to share that with anyone else. 

His moochers, his business.

"Aw, I hate those blobby little shits," Freyra said with a disgusted frown. "Been using 'em for target practice when I get bored out there, but I guess I missed one. They always do that too - ambush the shortest person."

Yuffie had to laugh at that because Freyra wasn't all that much taller than she was. "That sounds like the voice of experience!"

"You know it, sister." Freyra started running her fingers through her hair, trying to detangle it. "Sorry I missed that one, though. You gonna survive it?"

"Probably," Yuffie laughed. "Vince was already pissed that I let myself get hit in the first place. Pretty sure he'd resurrect me just to kill me again if I died."

"Was he now?" Freyra's voice was politely interested, but the look she was giving Yuffie was something else. Eyebrows raised, eyes wide, but a not-quite-smile playing around her lips that reminded Yuffie of something she'd seen before but couldn't quite….

Oh. 

"Hey, just out of curiosity. Were you ever with ShinRa?" The question was out of her mouth before she really thought about how to phrase it. Too late now, but Freyra seemed unphased.

"How'd you guess? I was a Turk back before ShinRa Senior bit the bullet." She stopped and thought for a second. "Or the blade maybe is the better way to put it."

Yuffie nodded in thoughtful agreement. She knew that brand of smug satisfaction was only bred in one place. The Turks. They all walked around looking like they knew something nobody else knew. Weirdos.

Just because they usually did was irrelevant. It was the principle of the thing: decent spies didn't give so much away. That was a point of pride. The mark of a professional.

"Am I allowed to ask how you got from there to the WRO?" Yuffie grinned, leaning towards Freyra with a conspiratorial wink.

Freyra giggled and flipped her hair over her shoulder, letting it drip on the floor. "Sure thing! It's no big secret. Tuesti knew my old boss, the Old Man called me up, and here I came. I don't know about the others, but I'm likin' having something active to do again."

Yuffie was about to ask who her old boss was, just to place people and connections within WRO, but Vincent blew in on a blast of cold wind with a six-pack, and she didn't get the chance.

"For me, Smokey? I didn't know you cared!" Freyra crooned, eyeballing the beer bottles in his hand, that self-satisfied smile still tugging at the corners of her mouth. 

Maybe you had to be weird to be a Turk. Yuffie decided that she'd ask Rude the next time she saw him. He didn't talk much but what he did say was usually the truth. Kinda.

"No," came Vincent's automatic reply at the same moment that Yuffie said, "Help yourself!"

They glared at one another for a second before Vincent walked over and passed a bottle to Freyra, who's eyes lit up as she smiled, wide and bright between the other two. "Well, aren't you two just the cutest things. Wanna join the rest of us for dinner at the bar? It's garlic chicken night and I hear it is to die for."

"I've ordered in," Vincent explained. "Yuffie should stay off that leg tonight." Freyra was so draining. _Aren't you two just the cutest things?_ Why didn't she just announce to the entire village that he was in love with Yuffie? That might be easier than watching her preen herself with information that she was not meant to have in the first place. 

"Oh, good point," Freyra said with a solemn nod. "Besides, it's my night to get fall-down drunk and bust my ass on the floor. Can't let Yuffie have all the fun!" Freyra's laugh was loud and contagious, and Yuffie couldn't help but like her, even with her Turk idiosyncrasies. 

"I will do my best not to steal your glory," she promised with a hand over her heart.

"Pinky promise?" Freyra held out her little finger.

Yuffie nearly snorted laughing as she linked fingers in the ages-old tradition of little girls everywhere on Gaia, "Pinky promise, but only for tonight."

Vincent watched this exchange with both a full and heavy heart. On the one hand, he was relieved to see Yuffie smiling and laughing. With her face glowing and her eyes sparkling with genuine pleasure, she was radiant. Plus, it was confirmation that she was going to be okay and was not understating her injuries. He could rest content in that fact.

On the other hand, it just had to be _Freyra_ who was making her laugh and cheering her up. And he didn't trust Freyra not to say something - not to hint or imply or slip in some kind of subtext that would make Yuffie's steel trap of a mind start asking questions. Questions he wasn't ready to answer. Yet. Or maybe ever. 

Vincent set the beer on the table and crossed his arms, prepared to wait out this conversation, unwilling to leave Freyra alone with Yuffie lest she did decide to say something he might regret. While he enjoyed watching Yuffie's animation return in full force, he could keep a suspicious ear on Freyra as well. It seemed like he didn't have anything to worry about, however. 

Now that they had gotten started, the clarion call of two natural born socializers meant that the flow of the conversation was carrying itself. They talked like old friends through adventures in the great outdoors, WRO bureaucracy, and their favorite places to get their respective native cuisines in Edge. Only the part about food interested Vincent at all, and he made a mental note to check out the Mideelian place in the lower east end. By the time they had gotten to comparing their favorite vacation destinations, Vincent had made himself comfortable in a chair for the long haul, satisfied that his participation in the conversation wasn't needed.

"Hey, sis. I think you've sprung a leak," Freyra said, pointing to the small puddle on the floor between the couch and the coffee table. 

"Ew," was Yuffie's initial reaction as she accepted Freyra's towel to clean up the floor and wrap the leaking ice bag. Then she added with a sigh, "Now my pants are all wet."

"How'd you not notice ice water soaking your pants?" was Freyra's disbelieving question.

"I'm already cold from the ice," Yuffie explained as she started to stand up.

Vincent took the towel from her and said at the same time, "The ice numbed the nerves."

Vincent and Yuffie swapped nods of agreement and Freyra's face did that Turk thing again. That settled it. Turks were just weird, all present company included. Vincent might not have been a Turk for a long (long) time, but he was still weird enough to qualify.

"Fair point," she admitted, smirking and putting her pilfered beer in the back pocket of her jeans. "Let me know if you need anything, all right? I'm gonna go get ready for pub grub."

"Sure thing," Yuffie promised with a grin. 

As Freyra left the room, she turned to Vincent and said, "Okay, so now I need to change pants. I'll be back down in a few." She eyed the stairs with a frown. While her leg wasn't hurting nearly as much anymore, she knew that wasn't going to last long once she started up. 

"Need help?" Vincent offered and instantly wanted to slap himself for how suggestive that sounded. What the hell was he thinking?

"Nah, I can make it," she said, giving him a smile she hoped was convincing enough. She could, she just kinda didn't want to.

"Wait…," he started before he realized that she had understood what he meant and not what it sounded like he meant. 

"What's up?"

"How about I bring dinner up once it's here?" Could he really not come up with anything better to cover that almost disaster? Wait, no. He could work with this. She didn't need to be playing around on the steps anyway.

"You can take the drinks up and get dried off," he started again, "And I'll bring you a new ice bag and the food once it gets here. That way, you don't have to make any more trips. Freyra did say it's her turn to bust her ass. No need to tempt fate."

That was as neat a save as he'd ever managed in his life and he was proud of himself. Even more proud when Yuffie considered the offer and nodded enthusiastically. 

"How much time do I have?" she mused, checking her phone for the time. "Enough for a shower, too? Great! You've got a deal, Vince." She took the now-five-pack from him and started for the stairs, some of the bounce back in her step even if it felt a little lopsided. 

It wasn't until she was back in the room with the door closed, staring around at the tiny space that she realized she had probably made a terrible mistake in agreeing to this arrangement. 

But she didn't have time to dwell on it. She spent the entire time she was in the shower switching between two opposing thoughts. She was more worried Vincent would walk in and find her half-naked than she wanted to admit, but she was also really curious about what he would do if he did. She got a move on anyway, erring on the side of not having that add to the day's awkwardness.

She did have some limits after all. 

Vincent waited outside the door until he was absolutely sure that he didn't hear anything from the room beyond. No shower running, no creak of furniture, no footsteps. The last thing he wanted to do was walk in on her in some state of undress. As confident as he was that he would enjoy the view, the embarrassment from it would likely kill him. Again.

After a solid minute of hearing nothing at all coming from the room, Vincent knocked and waited. When Yuffie replied, "It's open!" he let himself in and almost wished that he had waited a little longer. 

He could ask if she owned anything but very short shorts but decided against it almost as soon as he had the thought. Of course she did, since she'd managed to layer leggings and jeans once today already. Asking now would make him look ridiculous. And asking would draw her attention to the fact that he was openly gawking at her legs. They seemed to go on for days….

"That didn't take long." Yuffie navigated around the footboard of the bed and plopped herself into one of the chairs at the table. Trust Vincent to prevent her worst nightmare and crush one of her wild fantasies at the same time just by knocking on the door like a civilized human being.

Vincent shrugged as he sat the box of food down and handed her a new ice bag. "You should probably prop that back up. It doesn't look great." Had she caught him looking? He hoped she hadn't caught him looking. But he'd been too busy looking to know for sure.

He was losing his mind at long last. He'd wondered when that would happen.

Yuffie took the ice from him and grinned, "I'm willing to bet it'll be purple in the morning." 

"I say black," Vincent offered, crossing the small room to collect the beer from where she'd left them by the door. "Then purple the next day."

"Then on to yellow and green afterward," Yuffie said with a sigh. She propped her foot up on the edge of the bed and balanced her fresh bag of ice on her bruise before turning her attention to the box of food. "So, what do we have in here that smells so good?"

"I have no idea," Vincent confessed. "I just asked for enough of what they had tonight for three people."

"Three?"

"Yuffie," Vincent chuckled as he walked back, popping the tops off of two bottles on the edge of the dresser. "This is us."

She considered this and agreed with the need for extra, mainly because she was sure those were cheesy potatoes she spied through the lid of one of the plastic bowls. She was going to say something about him being right when she realized that he was about to step over her leg.

"If you kick me, Vincent Valentine, so help me…." The warning was there in her voice, so she didn't think she had to actually come up with a suitable threat to finish off the statement. But seriously, if he did, she was gonna lose it. Or cry. Probably cry.

"If I trip over your leg, then you are welcome to do whatever you want to me." Well, he was at least being consistent in making most of the words out of his mouth sound suggestive. Particularly when he was in the process of stepping over her to get to the other chair. 

Of course, he wasn't going to trip over her. Or even touch her, because this was Vincent "All Grace And Class" Valentine who probably hadn't tripped over anything since he was learning how to walk.

"Promises, promises, Vince," she replied without even thinking about it until it was too late. That sounded _bad_. Really bad. Yuffie crammed her face back into the box of food and started pulling out cartons, hoping he hadn't noticed. 

"Does it hurt?" If he just kept going like he wasn't a lovestruck fool, maybe she wouldn't notice. Or if she did notice, maybe his sincere concern would throw her off the scent. 

Good, if he noticed he was pretending like he didn't. That was a relief. "Only when I touch it." 

Something in the bottom of the box caught her attention and she grinned as it dawned on her what it was. "Vince, we have hit the motherload."

She looked up at him, biting her lip as she pulled out the last piece of their meal. It took him a moment to process what had Yuffie so thrilled about it, but once it did, he could feel his eyes light up. How the cooks looked at an entire chicken and decided it was the correct portion for three people, he might never understand. 

"We feast," Yuffie declared, "Like kings!"


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's vegan bashing in this one. And Yuffie using it to air her opinions about Lucrecia. Just so you know.
> 
> Also this chapter is where the title of the fic happens.

Vincent had heard alcohol referred to as many things, but for tonight he decided that social lubrication was the most accurate. It certainly had made this meal more relaxed than he’d thought it would be. He had also lost his qualms about staring at Yuffie somewhere in the middle of his second beer.

He wasn’t drunk, of course. Just less concerned about everything. It was hard to be worried about anything when the woman of your dreams was sitting across from you, slowly devouring an entire roasted chicken by herself.

Vincent had gotten a leg and a thigh out of it, which was pretty amusing to him now that he thought about it. Inappropriate, given that he didn’t seem to be able to keep his mind off of Yuffie’s legs, but still amusing. He at least still had the sense to keep that to himself.

“I just don’t get vegans, right?” Yuffie was diligently working her way through her second beer and making solid progress on the chicken. Both were excellent, but the chicken was what had the bulk of her attention.

Vincent nodded his general agreement and that was all the encouragement she needed. “I mean, who would want to miss out on this?” She gestured to the bird before her and shook her head sadly. “Love yourselves, people. Please.”

Vincent chuckled as she tore off another strip of meat and popped it in her mouth. “I knew a vegan once,” he provided, shaking his head and shoveling another bite of the green beans in some kind of mushroom sauce into his mouth. 

“I’m sorry,” Yuffie sympathized. “I hope you didn’t have to spend too much time with them.”

He snorted, “It was Lucrecia.”

Alcohol was many different things to many different people, and for Vincent, it had never been a friend. Thanks to Chaos, alcohol had little effect, but both before it’s addition and now after it’s departure, his tolerance was very different. The smallest amount of any alcohol went straight to whatever part of his brain was responsible for keeping him from saying too much.

Yuffie chewed thoughtfully. She was full, warm, and had enough beer in her to have lost a lot of her verbal filter. “Why am I not surprised? Sounds just exactly like her level of bullshit.”

All Vincent could do was blink as Yuffie continued her decimation of the chicken. Was she…? 

“I mean, to each their own, right?” She started, grabbing a plastic fork to get at some elusive tender bit of meat.

Vincent nodded, “Naturally.” Maybe she was. This was a first and Vincent wasn’t sure if he felt more excitement or fear at the notion of finally getting to hear Yuffie’s thoughts on his ex. He’d had the pleasure of watching her issue scathing judgments of others before, but on this topic, she had maintained a strict silence that was baffling to him. 

“But I’ve never met a single vegan who wasn’t _like that_ , you know? Sanctimonious pains in the ass, going on and on about how all husbandry and animal agriculture is unfair.” Yuffie pitched her voice higher and twisted her mouth up, mocking the weak complaints. “Smug in their moral superiority at not eating anything that might have feelings.” Her fork snapped and she frowned. That was rude of it. Oh well, she had hands.

Vincent was still taking in everything Yuffie was saying, but he was absolutely mesmerized by the way she worked her delicate-looking fingers into the stubborn joint and cracked it without batting a lash. Was there nothing she couldn’t do? Was there nothing she wouldn’t do and turn it into an artform?

“I can respect the lifestyle choice, you know? I’m not gonna force-feed anybody cheese. But gawd!” She huffed between bites and rolled her eyes. 

“Obviously,” Vincent agreed, coming down on the side of being curious about the potential in this tirade. And hoping that she’d decide to lick her fingers again. He could watch that for days.

“And it’s exactly the sort of thing I’d expect from somebody like Lucrecia,” she continued. There was some part of her brain that suggested she might want to rethink what she was about to say, but the comfortable part wasn’t putting in the effort to listen.

“I could just hear her saying, _I can’t eat anything with a face!_ while being completely fine with experimenting on herself. Like, seriously?” Yuffie paused to take a swig of her beer before going on, “You can find it in you to respect a chicken - one of probably the dumbest animals to ever walk Gaia - but you can’t respect yourself?” Yuffie snorted. “It’s such a vegan thing to do. Sacrifice your own health, but be worried about the bees who don't use all the honey they make in a million years.”

Having heard almost precisely those words come from Lucrecia more than once, Vincent wasn’t able to argue. Not that he would. He’d learned a harsh and painful lesson when it came to Lucrecia: his rose-tinted memories of her were very different from reality. It had taken a while, but he’d was in a place now where he could be grateful to her for saving him, but he also recognized that right now?

In his life.

In this too-small room in an Inn in Bone Village.

With Yuffie positively demolishing an entire chicken in front of him.

And him falling more in love with her with each passing minute.

Lucrecia had nothing to do with this.

Yes, she had made a significant decision at a turning point in his life, but everything else had been up to him. He chose to be here, he’d made the decisions that had led him to this point. He was the one who would make the decisions about where his life went from here. 

He realized that where he wanted it to go was wherever Yuffie was going. He watched her in silence, just taking in the reality of that idea and getting comfortable with it. It wasn’t hard, the getting comfortable part. But how to communicate that to her was something else entirely. He considered this as he finished his beer.

He was so quiet, so she was pretty sure she’d just put her foot in it again. Well, who cared? It wasn’t any different than if she’d told Cid his cigars were going to kill him or Reeve that sending Cait to deliver things was weird. Just statements of inconvenient facts to her friends.

Friends. ‘Cause he made it real clear a long time ago that was all he was interested in. 

If she got right down to it, he hadn’t even been interested in friendship until recently. Cause he’d actually told _Cloud_ to tell her to not call him. He hadn’t even told her himself! And she never had, not once! Well, okay, she’d never called him for social reasons. Business was different. She’d kept all the chatty stuff to text messages and he had eventually come around after the mess with Deepground was over. 

She picked the last few pieces of meat off the bones and started looking for the wishbone. She felt like she needed to break something, but nothing too big.

She was licking her fingers again. Vincent could have gotten up, stepped over her, and grabbed her a hand towel from the bathroom, but why? If he did that, then she’d wipe her hands like a normal person. Where was the pleasure in that for him? 

Plus, if he got up and walked away, he’d miss the precious line between her brows as she surveyed the destruction in front of her. He’d miss a lot more than that if he didn’t take this chance. They were alone, so he wouldn't be overheard. If she wasn’t interested, she would be honest about it anyway. That would be awkward, but he might not get another chance like this.

If she didn’t laugh him out of the room, tonight could take a turn for the significantly better. And if he was fortunate, he might even get to kiss her. Lean across the table, cradle her face in the palm of his hand, finally, finally get to find out what she tasted like….

Without thinking through what he would say, he leaned forward and started, “Yuffie, I….”

“Oh! There it is,” she cut him off because she wasn’t interested in hearing whatever scolding he had for her about keeping her opinions to herself. If he didn’t like it, he could learn how to lump it along with everyone else.

“Here,” she held up the wishbone and waggled it at him. “Make a wish.”

Vincent blinked, adjusting to what she was saying then going along with it. This could be a golden opportunity, the perfect opening to just tell her how he felt without being quite so blunt about it. “I wish yo….”

“No! You aren’t supposed to say your wish out loud!” Everybody knew that rule and whatever he was going to wish, she didn’t want to hear it. Second-hand hurt seemed to be the name of the game today and she’d _had it_. “If you say it out loud, it won’t come true.”

She drained the last of her beer and wished she didn’t have to keep doing this song and dance around him. 

...Or maybe it wasn’t a golden opportunity. Vincent kept his wishing to himself as she snapped the wishbone in half and got the bigger piece. “You win,” he said with a sigh. 

“Yep!” She chirped. “There’s one beer left, do you want it?”

“No, do you?” This wasn’t how he’d seen these minutes going and his brain was struggling to keep up with the change in the plan. More beer certainly wouldn't help.

“No,” she declined the last one and surveyed the mess they’d made. “I’ll clean this up if you want to get changed.”

It wasn’t that late, but he knew a dismissal when he heard one. Had he done something? No, he hadn’t gotten enough words out to have done anything this time. Maybe she was just tired. It had been a long day.

He nodded his agreement and stood up, reaching down to catch the bag of mostly-melted ice that started to slide as she moved her leg off the bed. His fingertips grazed over her skin and he would have relished the seconds of touch had several things not happened in rapid succession.

First, Yuffie’s breath hitched, then she cursed. At the same time, her hand shot out and grabbed his wrist, twisting his hand away from her. 

“Did I hurt you?” Vincent asked, panicked as the ice bag fell out of his grip.

“Don’t,” Yuffie blurted at the same time before her brain caught up with reality. She shook her head and started over. “Sorry. All I saw was your hand going for my leg. I just.....”

She loosened her grip on his wrist and would have backed off if she could have. She had to settle for shifting a little in her chair. He was really way too close. She probably couldn't cause that only happened in movies and books, but she thought she could smell his shampoo.

Saffron was a little earthy? And a little bit sweet? Honey-sweet, not sugar sweet? That wasn’t possible, though. 

She was going to lose it if he stayed this close for much longer. Did he have to flip her grip on his wrist to hold her hand? And she could do without him looking at her all intense like that. What was his deal?

“Did I hurt you?” He asked again, searching her face and finding nothing to indicate that she was in pain. 

“No,” Yuffie chuckled weakly. “Gosh, Vince. You just scared me. I’m not excited about the possibility of this thing getting whacked. It’s just started feeling better.” He really, really needed to back off. She could resist just about everything but the temptation of his mouth being that close, even if it was all frowny again? She wasn’t sure if she could resist that.

“I would never hurt you on purpose, Yuffie.” Maybe that was obvious by this point, but he had to say it anyway. Perhaps he still had a chance to tell her he loved her tonight while he still had the nerve. 

She could have laughed out loud at that if he hadn’t stuck that ‘on purpose’ in there. What sad joke that was! If he only knew, but there was no way she was going to tell him. It would take a lot more than just a couple of beers to pry that out of her. She didn’t go through life beating dead chocobos.

“Whoa, relax! It’s not that serious,” she did laugh, but she didn’t think she sounded amused at all. She had to get him in some other part of this room, fast. “Vincent?”

“Yeah?” 

“Why is your hand so cold?” Well, that was lame. But it worked because he finally seemed to remember that he was holding hers and dropped it. Which made him back up just enough to not be so overwhelming. 

Damnit. He should have known better than to try. He was making her nervous. Vincent bent to pick up the forgotten bag of melted ice and turned for the bathroom, answering her automatically. “I’ve always been cold-natured.”

As soon as he was not directly in front of her, Yuffie’s head cleared. Wow, she was really going to have to get better at controlling this. Or just lay off the alcohol whenever he was around because man! Nobody could live like this.

“That explains the gloves, then,” she remarked, forcing her voice lighter than she felt as she started tossing empty food containers into the box they’d arrived in. “Wait, is that why it’s all leather all the time?”

She’d thought it was just an aesthetic choice but if he really was cold all the time…. Of course, he might have just said that to have something to say. But that didn’t seem very Vincent-like.

She was overthinking this.

“Yes,” came his answer from around the bathroom door. 

Yuffie tried very hard not to think about him changing, peeling out of the layers of leather and whatever else he had on. She tried to not think about what he might sleep in but failed miserably. Trying to distract herself, she almost smacked her not-bruised knee into the bedpost as she sat the empty bottles next to the trash can. 

The next stage of the evening was going to be a lesson in timing and self-control. Because if Vincent's plan was going to work - which now he knew that it was going to have to - he was going to have to somehow stay awake long enough for Yuffie to get to sleep. Then he could slip out of the room and down to the noisy company of the ice machine in the back room.

He’d enjoyed a few minutes of reprieve where tonight went very differently than it was playing out right now, but that had been a dream. A good one, but still a dream. Maybe he could try again, but not tonight. Maybe not even this month because this was harder than he’d imagined.

Or maybe never was the right time to try to talk to her. That seemed reasonable. Easier, too. And safer.

Vincent took a deep breath as he gathered up his clothes and walked back into the bedroom. He draped the clothes he planned to wear again the next day over the back of a chair then dropped onto the edge of the bed to braid his hair for the night. Yuffie was quiet as she brushed her teeth and slid a couple of pins into her hair to hold it off her face, but he noticed she kept an eye on him in the mirror.

“I’m sorry,” he started as she turned around. “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. It won’t happen again.”

Yuffie blinked at him for a second, wondering what that expression on his face was all about. He looked a lot more contrite than seemed reasonable for someone who was just trying to catch a bag and hadn’t actually done anything wrong.

It wasn’t his fault he was hot. That was just genetics. And the aesthetic, which was currently a dark blue tee-shirt and coordinating plaid pants. No, he really couldn't help being that attractive, and Yuffie would be damned if she actually wanted him to try to stop, even if it did make her life unbearable sometimes.

“It’s okay, Vince,” she said with a smile, swatting his shoulder as she passed. “I’m the one who overreacted, sorry for freaking out on you.”

“I…,” wait, what? Why was she apologizing? Had he missed something along the way? “It’s understandable.”

That came out more like a question, but she seemed satisfied with it, so he dropped the topic but kept turning it over in his head as he brushed his teeth and steeled himself to somehow stay awake once the lights were out. As he turned back to the bed, Yuffie was already tucked in, her back to him. Maybe he could manage it, after all?

He flipped the light switch by the door and crossed the floor, getting into bed carefully to not accidentally touch her. She was already so still, all he had to do was wait for her to be completely asleep, then he could go. It wouldn't be that hard.

Yuffie heard Vincent’s jaw pop when he yawned the first time. She was still awake, worried that if she moved too much, she'd put him in yet another awkward situation that he didn’t want he yawned the last time. She listened to his even breaths in and out for a long time before she finally fell asleep herself. 


	12. Chapter 12

The window was in the wrong place. Vincent wasn't sure how he knew that, given that his eyes were still closed, but he did. It was vaguely worrying in the same way that the source of warmth at this moment was coming from only one side. That wasn't right, either.

Oh, he wasn't at home. He was in Bone Village. That was the problem with the window. He sighed when he remembered that, a little more awake now. He wasn't at home, he was in Bone Village with Yuffie on WRO business.

That probably explained why his left side was warmer than his right, too. That was where she was sleeping, curled up with her head nestled into the bend of his arm. Made sense.

Wait.

No, that didn't make sense! He wasn't supposed to be waking up here! How did…!

Vincent's eyes flew open and he took a quick inventory of everything that was wrong with this situation. Really wrong, not just a misplaced window in a strange room. 

To start with, he should have left hours ago. If the weak light between the curtains was any indication, it was closer to six am than midnight, so his plan for where to spend the night was a failure. He'd fallen asleep here, the exact opposite of what he'd meant to do.

And because that plan had failed Yuffie was pressed against his side, her sleeping face just barely visible from under the covers. She was warm, too. The perfect heater on a chilly morning, her features relaxed with her mouth open just a little, and the blunt ends of her hair soft between his clawed fingertips. 

What was he doing?! He had to get out of this bed, immediately. But not too fast because it was very early and he didn't want to wake Yuffie. Nothing good would come of waking her up. She would be grumpy for the rest of the day and, judging from the state of things in his pants, he would be mortified for the rest of his life.

Vincent took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. This was not part of his plan at all, but he could manage it. Fortunately, Yuffie was not attached to him - she wasn't lying on his arm, just tucked in under it, and she didn't have an arm or a leg thrown over him. That would make extracting himself easier. He just hoped she wasn't a light sleeper. 

As he slid slowly out from under the covers, being careful to not move them too much and give her a rousing blast of cold air, he had to wonder how this had happened. Was he really this unlucky? Was there something he could blame this predicament on that wasn't his own predilection to getting sleepy once he'd had a few drinks? It was bad enough being a lightweight, but a sleepy lightweight seemed to be its own unique curse.

Vincent breathed easier once he was upright and Yuffie hadn't moved. At least fixing this mess was starting out a success. He considered his options now that he was out of temptation's way and decided that a cold shower should be his first order of business. If he woke her up with that, then he could apologize and life could move on. 

Much easier than having her wake up in his arms and trying to explain that. He was just going to have to avoid any more beer, that was all there was to it. Waking up like this again was out of the question. 

In short order, he was in and out of the shower and dressed, and she was still asleep. It looked like she had burrowed deeper in the covers, and Vincent smiled to himself at how adorable she was. As he tucked his clothes back into his bag he jostled his holster leaned against it and sent Cerberus sliding out. All three of the dog's heads on the barrels seemed to be rolling their eyes at him as he remembered that he hadn't cleaned it after the fight with the Boundfat the day before.

At least he had something to do now instead of sitting here staring at her. Or going downstairs to wait for her to wake up.

He wasn't noisy, not really. But the sound of the water in the shower had been strange enough that Yuffie had woken up and sat up in bed before realizing that the room was entirely too cold and it was entirely too early to be a functional human being. She glared at the pipes in the ceiling, hoping they hadn't forgotten that they were there for heating the room and hunkered back down in the covers for as long as she could get away with it.

Which turned out to be a lot longer than she'd imagined when Vincent unloaded and started to work on his gun. She's always liked watching the process even if it did seem a little fiddly. He was so methodical about it. From rolling up his sleeves to laying down a cloth to protect the table, lining up all his bottles and tools in just so. Then being so focused throughout the process of cleaning every little nook and cranny. She wondered if anything could break his concentration once he started? 

Not that she was going to try. Weapons maintenance was too essential to risk. If anybody interrupted her while she lavished attention and care on her shuriken, she would probably snap their head off. Missing some part of her routine could make her grip slip or leave a dull edge. She could only imagine how disastrous missing a spot on something with moving parts could be.

Besides that, just getting to watch him like this was worth it. His hair was still damp enough to leave wet spots on his shirt. Deft hands and long fingers moved over his tools, choosing just the right ones with practiced speed, his touch light, and every movement deliberate. He bit the side of his bottom lip every one in a while in concentration, too. And with as small as the room was, she could smell him for real this time.

Soap and that fancy conditioner, the sharp tang of metal and whatever was in those bottles. The combo was going straight to her sex drive, do not pass Go, do not collect 200 gil. If she'd had any shame at all, she would have blushed at herself. Fortunately, she was fresh out of shame this morning and free to enjoy the whole experience because he wasn't paying attention to her.

All good things must come to an end and realizing that she had to pee was the end of this one. There was no way to make an invisible dash for the bathroom, so she milked the last few seconds of it for all it was worth. The reward for her persistence was getting to watch Vincent stretch after he had polished Cerberus to a gleaming shine. Arms over his head, mouth twisting as he arched his back. Honestly, who allowed a single person to be that good looking? There ought to be a law….

Yuffie's explosion out of bed caught him off-guard, but only as long as it took for her to make it to the bathroom and slam the door. Then, he had to chuckle. He gave Cerberus one last wipe down and said, "Good morning," to Yuffie when she reappeared a couple of minutes later.

"Didn't that thing used to be longer?" She asked, scratching her shoulder as she watched him reload.

She had sheet tracks on that shoulder and up the side of her neck that he was glad he had a reason to avoid looking at. Looking led to thinking about them and thinking about them led to him wanting to touch them. His goal today was to _not_ make her uncomfortable or overstep any of the boundaries they'd already established. Business as usual. Stay focused. 

"I can change out the barrels," he explained. "But I prefer short ones. Useful in more situations."

Yuffie made a noise of understanding and switched her bag from the floor to the end of the bed. While she dug through it, Vincent finished his task and started to pack up his cleaning kit. 

"How's your knee?" The sheet tracks were down her leg as well and the bruise was nearly black. He forced himself to concentrate on it rather than the rest of her leg.

"Attached! And not stiff." She pulled out two pairs of pants and finished, "Still tender when I touch it, though. Do you think it's another 'wear two pairs of pants' cold day?"

"Probably, if the internal temperature is anything to go by." He stashed his kit in his bag and Cerberus back in its holster. There were goosebumps rising across her skin and now that he was moving around he was close enough to see them. And stare at them. And want to wrap her in his arms to warm her up. "I think the heat is broken."

"I think you're right on all counts," she frowned, unearthing a shirt from the tangled mass of clothes in her bag.

"I'll go find out," he offered without another word and grabbed his coat as he headed out the door. He needed to go. For the sake of her privacy and his sanity, staying wasn’t an option.

Yuffie stood still for a minute after the door clicked closed behind him. She had the undeniable feeling that she'd done something to upset him, and she was sure she knew what. As she tugged on her clothes, she thought hard about the night before and accepted that she'd really overstepped there. She never should have said anything about Lucretia and shouldn't have been so judgemental about what she did say. 

He'd been unhappy about it last night and clearly wasn't over it this morning. She was going to have to find a chance to apologize. Preferably sooner rather than later. She didn't like to let stuff like this linger with her friends, and having hurt Vincent felt a lot worse since he was, well. He was Vincent and he didn’t deserve that kind of crap from anybody.

Yuffie hurried through getting dressed, raked a comb through her hair, grabbed her hoodie, and headed down to get the apologizing over with. Only to find the lobby of the inn crowded with the entire team, all of them in various states of annoyance.

"So what you're saying," Dr. Gallagher was leaning on the front desk looking exceptionally done with everything, "Is that the internet _and_ the heating are out for the morning?"

"'Fraid so," the desk clerk was friendly and calm which Yuffie was sure had to count for something in the face of the tiny, angry woman in front of him. "The connection should be back up by lunchtime, as usual. The heat may take a little longer. A man is coming about it late morning."

Yuffie caught Freyra's eye and mouthed, "As usual?"

Freyra sidled over and explained, "It goes out every morning. We've gotten used to it, mostly." She cast a look over her shoulder at where the geologist was standing, her face like a storm cloud. "Mostly."

Yuffie giggled, and the knot of people headed for the door, off in search of breakfast at the pub next door. She hung back, knowing that Vincent would too. Before he headed through at the end of the line, she reached for his arm and pulled him back. 

"Hey, so," she started, letting him go once she had his attention. "I'm sorry about last night. I really crossed the line, talking about Lucretia like that. I know she means a lot to you, and I should have kept my opinions to myself. It won't happen again."

Vincent watched Yuffie's face as she apologized to him, a smile threatening the corners of his mouth. Before she was finished, he was already shaking his head slightly, "It's okay, no need to apologize. You didn't say anything that wasn't true."

His smile was as genuine as it was discombobulating. Maybe she'd misread his mood this morning? That was always a possibility, she supposed. He had always been a bit of a mystery. It was part of his allure, in her not so humble opinion.

The expression on her face as she nodded understanding was so relieved, so open and honest and everything he adored about her that he added, "And it's _meant_. She meant a lot to me."

His heart pounded in his ears as the words seemed to just hang there in the air between them. Nothing ventured, bull by the horns, and all of that? Maybe he'd have better luck doing this in the light of day. He caught her eye and dove into his confession, "There's somebody else I'd like to give all my attention to now."

Most of the air left the room and Yuffie could almost hear her heart breaking. When would she ever learn? Probably never, at this rate. But who knew? Maybe this level of unmistakable rejection before breakfast would be the thing that cemented it in her head at long last. Not only was he not interested in her and never had been, but now he never would be. Somebody else had gotten to him first.

At least nobody else was here to see her smile fracture as she slapped his arm and said, all painted-on jocularity, "Good job, Vince! She's one lucky girl to have you!" before walking out the door.

Maybe it was selfish, but she just couldn't stand there, watching that soft smile spread over his face, so content and actually looking sincerely happy for the first time in forever. Maybe after a few hours or days she'd be able to really be happy for him but not yet. She just had to hurt first and get over it. Properly this time. Without hanging on to all these stupid ideas about maybe having a chance with him. 

Vincent had no idea what had just happened, but he knew it wasn't what he'd intended. That was becoming a sad refrain for him when it came to Yuffie and he wasn't sure what to do about it. Was she seeing someone? Was she not interested? What was he missing?

He considered the evidence through breakfast, mulling over what he knew versus what he suspected. There was a disconnect somewhere, he was sure. 

She did date. That he knew because she had complained more than once about dates going badly. She also had been involved in at least two serious, long term relationships that he knew of, thanks to Cid vocally hating both of them. So that ruled out a general lack of interest, he thought. And would explain why if she was already seeing someone, he wouldn't necessarily know about it. Cid had never bothered to keep his opinions to himself and the screaming matches that resulted had gone down in Seventh Heaven legend.

Maybe it was him, then? Not a happy thought but also not a surprising one. Her objections to him, in particular, were easy enough to imagine. There were three obvious ones that he couldn't do anything about, plus everything from his age to his past questionable life choices. Not that he could do anything about those either at this point.

Only one thing was any more clear after breakfast, and that was that to find out for sure, he would have to ask her. The idea alone was enough to make him go cold all over, but at the same time, he wasn't sure he had any other choice. If he wanted to know, he would have to ask. And Vincent did want to know, badly.

As everyone made their way to the site after breakfast, Yuffie avoided Vincent with every ounce of energy she had. Fortunately, in a group this friendly, that was easy. She wished it was as easy to focus on the chatter instead of feeling like her brain was somehow pinned to Vincent all the time. Every time she glanced his way, he was watching her with some weird expression on his face that she couldn't read.

Once they arrived at the pool, her luck changed. The rapid growth of the Materia was scary. It was so much bigger this morning. The pockets of color had shifted, and comparing it to the pictures she had taken the evening before showed that it had changed shape, too.

Yuffie perched herself at the edge of the pool while the team made preparations to measure and properly document the latest growth. She thought and thought, running through all the ways she knew Materia formed naturally. None of them fit what she was seeing. Nothing about this was right! The question of where she'd seen it before still tugged at her mind.

Frustrated by the Materia and her world in general, she paced around the edge of the pool, staring into the placid Lifestream that barely moved around the Materia it was growing. That wasn't right, either. The Lifestream was alive, it should have been reacting. Was anything right anywhere at all? Probably not.

She huffed to herself and crouched down again, trying to get a better view of the entire pool. The ground had lifted up when the Lifestream had erupted, leaving ledges of rock that hung over the pool. Something flickered just under one of the stones - she hadn't seen it before because of the overhang, but from this angle, it was clear.

Clear and perfectly round. Yuffie stretched out on her stomach to get a better look and called for Dr. Gallagher. Before the doctor could answer, Yuffie had made up her mind about what she was seeing. 

It was Materia. Manufactured Materia, looking tan in the glowing green-blue of the Lifestream, which meant that it was purple. Independent Materia. There were purple areas on the mass in the center, but how did one lone manufactured orb find its way into the pool?

How…?

Why…?

It came to her in a flash - where she'd seen a mass like that before, that weird shape and size, and how one single man-made orb could be in a placid pool of Lifestream. She had it, she knew what was going on! She reached for the gleaming Independent just under the surface of the Lifestream; if she could just get to it!

On the walk, Freyra had held forth at length about how he needed to _actually talk to Yuffie_ if he wanted to get anywhere with her. As Vincent had already realized that and was in the process of trying to figure out how best to go about it, Freyra was more trying than usual. He had been so annoyed that he had actually advised her to stop staring at Dr. Gallagher's backside lest she burn a hole in her pants.

He was swiftly punished for his meddling as Freyra made it clear that she was intimately familiar with the contents of the doctor's pants. She'd also added that her familiarity was due to clear and concise communications between them, just to rub it in more.

He had been about to invite Freyra to shut up when Yuffie's excited call to Dr. Gallagher caught their attention. Freyra cursed a half-second later, on her feet and rounding the camp table, trying to make it to Yuffie in time to stop her causing herself a grievous injury. But Vincent was faster. 

Vincent was always faster.

He knew Yuffie, knew that sheen of intense focus in her eye. He'd registered it as soon as he'd looked at her, laying face down in the dirt at the edge of the pool with her feet swinging back and forth in the air behind her. That gleam in her eye meant she wasn't thinking about _what_ she was doing, she was just doing it as a means to whatever end was in her head.

And what she was about to do was stick her bare hand into raw Mako. 

If it were possible for time to flow backward, he might be able to move faster. Even bound by the laws of time, he had crossed the camp in a fraction of a second. Before Freyra's curse was entirely out of her mouth, before Dr. Gallagher had turned to see what Yuffie wanted, he latched on to her wrist, stopping her right before her fingertips slipped into the Lifestream.

"Hey…!" Yuffie snapped as her concentration was broken. She whipped her head around to see who had interfered with her plans and snatched her arm away when she registered that it was Vincent, his expression hard.

"What the _hell_ do you think you're doing?" Other than trying to get herself killed. 

"I was going to get that piece of Materia out," she said, pointing and slapping his hand away when he moved to intercept her again. "See, it's not attached to the big blob! Do you know what that means?"

"You were just going to stick your whole hand into the Lifestream for a piece of Materia?" He demanded through clenched teeth. For some reason he wasn’t surprised that it was Materia that had made her forget common sense. "Right in you go, no gloves, no gear. How did you see that ending, Yuffie?"

He knew how he’d seen it ending and the thought made him sick. Best case scenario, she’d lose her entire arm. Worst case, she’d be dead. He did not like either one of those options.

The truth was, it didn't work out in her head because she hadn't thought that far ahead, yet. All of her thoughts just clicked into place, and she acted on it. But hearing him put it like that, all mad at her for it, didn't improve her mood, and she clamped her mouth shut in a scowl.

Good, let her feel bad for nearly burning her arm off. She needed to, if only because she scared him. His resolve didn't hold for long and he had sighed once his heart had slowed down some. There were some things about her that would never change. And he wasn’t sure that he wanted her impulsiveness to, at least not completely. 

It didn't usually get her gravely injured after all.

"What were you wanting? Where is it?"

"Right there," she made a show of just _pointing_ to the Independent in the pool then sitting back on her heels and crossing her arms. She couldn't stay like that long, the pressure against the bruise on her knee was really painful, but she was going to tough it out on principle if he was going to play the whole save-the-idiot card. 

Vincent bent down further to get a visual on what she was talking about. Once he spotted the orb, he shed his jacket and button-up, handing both to Yuffie before peeling off the glove on Galian's hand and handing it over too.

"And just what the hell d’you suppose you're doing, Captain Brilliant?" Dr. Gallagher demanded, her hands on her hips. "Have you both lost your damned minds?"

Vincent didn't bother to answer because what he was doing had to look equally as foolish as what Yuffie had just tried to do. With one significant difference that would make itself clear without the need for words.

Lifestream, in its unfiltered state like this, caused instant and often fatal burns to healthy living flesh. Tolerance to the Lifestream, to Mako, had to be built up over long periods then maintained with consistent, measured dosage. Some people, like Shelke, had been overexposed to the point that they were dependent on it to live. Others, like Cloud and Vincent, had some resistance to it from having had Mako poisoning and lived through it. 

But Vincent had one other line of defense against the ruinous effects of raw Mako. He had Galian's arm. The Galian beast had possessed a near-perfect immunity to Mako, which had caught Hojo's attention. It had lost its allure when he'd discovered that the protection was literally only skin deep. Once injected with Mako, Galian had succumbed to the poison just as everything else did - mutating, growing more violent, and eventually nearly dying. 

Vincent didn't know the exact science behind it, but he did know that the dying creature's arm had been grafted on to his body. Thanks to the Lifestream they both had coursing through their systems, the transplant worked. A little too well, perhaps because Vincent not only had an arm, but he had Galian's consciousness and a decent sized chunk of it's being that he shared a body with now.

The upshot, in this particular case, was that as he slid Galian's hand into the Lifestream pool and closed his hand around the Materia Yuffie wanted, the Lifestream barely rippled. There was no hiss of steam, no smoke, and while the sensation wasn't pleasant - like stretchy, moist ooze that was warm and cold at the same time - it didn't hurt him at all.

Yuffie realized that she was going to have to move. The pressure on the bruise on her knee was unbearable, but at least she was able to hide the truth of the pain in getting up to snatch two rags from a nearby supply rack. Even small drops of the Lifestream could do a lot of damage to bare skin, even if she wasn’t sticking her hand into it.

Which she probably wouldn't have done, once her brain caught up with her… brain. Ugh! Almost screw up one time, and never get past it. She'd wake up at three am ten years from now, thinking about the reproach in his voice and not be able to go back to sleep. She just knew it!

"Thanks," she said, not looking at him as he dropped the Independent into one rag and took the other from her to wipe down his arm. She didn't have to tell herself not to watch him this time because she had Materia in her hands again. Glowing, humming power in the palm of her hand, making her feel like she could take on the world and not just win, but triumph!

"That was," Freyra scoffed, "The most unnecessary dramatic bullshit I've ever seen in my life, Smokey." Dr. Gallagher shot him a look that agreed with Freyra's assessment before they both moved to Yuffie's side to see what had caused the scene.

They were right, and Vincent knew it but wasn't going to say a word. He was aware of the fact that all eyes were on him, the mixture of emotions on all the faces making the tops of his ears burn. He had no good excuse for doing the exact thing that he'd just stopped Yuffie from doing. None that he was going to advertise publically, at any rate.

She'd wanted it. 

He'd gotten it for her.

End of discussion. 

So he hoped, but Freyra was giving him a knowing look, so he knew that it wasn't going to be soon forgotten. He just hoped that Freyra would keep her mouth shut long enough….

"Dang," she drawled, whistling low and staring directly at him. "What's a gal gotta do to get a guy who'll do _that_ for her?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We are getting dangerously close to the point that I've written to. My ability to write is hampered by Life And It's Various Complexities, but if I get to a point where there's not going to be a Tuesday update, I'll drop a little chapter and let you know.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so this is the last chapter that I have both written *and* beta read. My beta readers both are super busy in July - one just bought her first house and is closing/moving (HURRAH!) and one of them is doing the FF7 Central Fanworks Exchange this month. I'm also doing the exchange this month for the first time since '17, so I'm' going to put this fic on a month's break! 
> 
> Never fear, I've got plenty of motivation to finish it and it will be back come August! But I'm SO PUMPED about my exchange prompts that I want to give them all of my (admittedly very limited) time and attention. 
> 
> Folks, I don't know what the coming months are going to bring for the US or the world, but I've got to encourage you all to take the pleasures that you can and enjoy them to their fullest. I love you all, and I'll see you back here in August!

Yuffie wasn't listening. She was holding the Materia up to the weak morning sunlight and looking it over. Her heart felt full, the spark of joy in the power that she could feel coming off the orb was so familiar, so comforting even after years of not really having any contact with it. She'd missed this so much and hadn't even noticed. But something wasn't quite right. The euphoric sensation she usually got from just holding a piece of Materia was dulled. She couldn't tell what this Materia was only by holding it. Was she already that out of touch with it?

"Something's wrong about that," Dr. Gallagher said from her elbow, and Yuffie glanced at the doctor.

"Yeah," Yuffie breathed, her mind whirling at top speed towards the answer she knew she had. "It's an old Shinra one, made in the labs. But it's… oh, what's the word I'm looking for? Covered? Masked?" She turned the Materia over in her hand and hummed, annoyed.

"Encapsulated," the geologist provided, grabbing Yuffie’s wrist and shifting the orb into better light. “You can see the extra layer. Looks like a pale green halo.”

That was the word she'd forgotten. And she knew about the process because she'd seen it before. "That's what that is," she jerked her thumb over her shoulder in the direction of the pool. "It's not organic Materia at all, it's encapsulated. I've seen it before," she hurried on as she noticed the weird looks she got from everyone within earshot, Vincent included. 

"Before they figured out that the manufactured Materia had to be purified before we could return it to the Lifestream, they tried something like this," she shrugged. "Just tossing the balls in Mako and hoping for the best. But it didn't work because the man-made stuff has impurities in it. Crap that the Lifestream doesn't like or can't handle."

Dr. Gallagher broke away and headed to the edge of the pool, her usual expression more severe now than it had been all morning. "Is it dangerous like this? Volatile?"

"Not usually," Yuffie explained. "It's not safe either 'cause it builds up like that and starts to kinda irritate the Lifestream."

"Like an oyster making a pearl?" Vincent asked.

"Yeah, only it won't stop growing once it starts because the Materia isn’t actually breaking down," Yuffie explained. 

"Because the Lifestream knows there's something in there that ought not be," Dr. Gallagher huffed. After a second of pause, the geologist turned to the team and barked, "Go get the truck! We are getting this thing out of here today!"

From that point on, the morning became a blur of activity. Just getting the tools to remove the encapsulated Materia to the site was a task that required all the ingenuity the team could muster. The truck had a crane attached to the bed that would allow them to grab the Materia and lift it out, if they could ever get the heavy truck back to the site. They got there eventually, but not without getting the truck stuck in the soft ground twice and nearly crashing into a tree. 

The actual removal was much easier and straightforward. The clawed end of the crane got a secure grip on the mass and it lifted out with no resistance at all. After the required picture of the whole group with the dangling chunk of Materia, it was loaded into the back of the truck, secured, and the long, slow trip back to Bone Village began along a different and more forgiving path.

With everything happening so quickly, there had been no way he could have gotten a word in with Yuffie, let alone a whole conversation. They had been so busy that he hadn't thought about it again until after lunch. Even then, it was Yuffie who had come to him and set his heart beating just a little bit faster. 

"So, um." She dropped into the vacant spot on the opposite end of the couch from him and sighed. "We're not done, right? Me and you?"

Vincent waited, not wanting to misunderstand what she was saying. He felt like he was on eggshells with her already and didn’t want to ruin any chance he might get. They weren't done? He wasn't aware they'd even started anything yet. Was he missing something bigger between them than he'd initially thought? 

"Figuring out what was going on with the Materia was just the first part. I'm supposed to do something about it now," she explained.

Oh, right. Of course, she meant the job; the reason they were here in the first place. He nodded and felt a mix of relief and disappointment. Relief because he hadn't been as dense as he thought he might have been, but disappointed that he was still going to have to find the courage to ask her several personal, direct questions.

"What do you have in mind?" 

"I'm glad you asked," Yuffie smiled, thrilled that he _had_ asked because if he hadn't, then she'd be sitting here feeling like she was asking for help from a brick wall. And honestly? Her own still-hurt feelings made just the idea of his usual silences unbearable. This was her problem, but she could always be happy that he wasn't making it any harder than it had to be, even if he didn't know it.

"I'm pretty sure there's gotta be a person behind it. Hopefully, just a confused one," she raised her eyebrows and started tapping away at her phone, "and not an evil one. I mean, let's be honest. If they were trying to do some damage, this is just about the crappiest way to go about it."

"Agreed." There was always the possibility that whoever was putting Materia directly into the Lifestream did mean harm but was just poorly informed about the methodology. Possible, but unlikely. In any event, that would mean they were dealing with an ordinary idiot. And most idiots were simple enough to deal with. "What can I do to help you?"

Yuffie laid her phone face down on her leg and explained, "Well, according to Dr. Gallagher, everything they thought was growth was happening at night, so whoever's been dumping the orbs has been doing it at night. I'd like to head back out tonight and see if they come back." 

Vincent nodded, schooling his features carefully so that he didn't give away his elation at the idea of spending the night alone and awake with Yuffie. Just the two of them. In the freezing cold, waiting for some fool to come along and drop Materia into a Mako pond.

Maybe not how he would have chosen, but he would take what he could get.

Wait, would they be alone? There was only one way to find out and this would be good practice for later. "Is there a need for us to have backup? What are the odds, the real odds, of the culprit being completely unhinged or armed?"

That stung Yuffie right in the place that hated being treated like a little kid who couldn't think or plan, and she crossed her arms as she sat back. He was doing a fantastic job of pushing all her buttons today. "Very, very small," she deadpanned. "I've thought through this, Vince. I'm sure we can handle it, but if you'd rather not come along, I'll ask Freyra."

"No," he answered faster than he probably should have. He didn't want to be left behind, not with this nearly perfect opportunity at hand. And he also knew, unwillingly, that Freyra wouldn't want to be away from Dr. Gallagher all night. But he had to not think about that and come up with a reason that sounded natural. "Reeve sent me to protect you, after all."

It was like he was needling her on purpose now. This was what she got for trying to be friends with him in the first place. If she'd just avoided him every time he'd brushed her off years ago, he wouldn't know her well enough now to be poking sticks into all of her tender spots.

And if she'd let go of the idea of having him when he'd rejected her the first time, she wouldn't have so many other tender places today, her mind helpfully reminded her.

That was her problem and she was the one who had to keep it in check no matter what he said or did. "Fine," she said evenly, deciding to work on her Business Professional Voice to put some distance between her feelings and him. "I've come up with a couple of options in terms of how they might approach the pool. Do you want to see them?"

"Sure." He slid over on the couch at the same time she did and they met in the middle, their shoulders brushing. She tensed for just a second, and he shifted so they weren't so close. If he had learned nothing else in the past day it was that he had to pay attention to her body language. He didn't want to make her nervous, after all. Not when he had so much to ask her. 

At least he backed off without her having to. Because she really didn't want to break contact with him, not after catching the scent of leather again. She was probably never going to be able to be a normal human being when it came to the smell of leather. If she could keep it together for the rest of this trip, it wouldn't matter nearly as much in her day to day life. She could find ways to avoid him once they were back in Edge. At least long enough to let the sourness in her stomach every time she thought about him fade some.

No, that wasn't fair, she admitted to herself as they discussed the map she'd pulled up. It wasn't thinking about him that was making her feel sick, it was thinking about herself. Because he'd always been kind to her. Yeah, she was annoying and got on his nerves; sometimes she'd done it on purpose but not so much since Deepground. That whole mess was when they'd really connected, and her crush on him had come back full force and then some. 

She'd always heard that opposites attract, and for a little while there, during that whole ordeal, she'd thought that maybe it was actually true. Vincent had trusted her, had counted on her to be in places that he couldn't. And just like she'd rescued him after his first meeting with Rosso, he'd come for her in Nero's oblivion.

She still had dreams about that place. Black nothing stretching forever around her, swallowing every sound but its own shriek, the memories of thought and light completely gone. She usually woke up from those nightmares sweaty and half-panicked, not willing or able to go back to sleep. 

It had been Vincent who'd pulled her out of the real nightmare. He'd done it without a single word about her being more careful and without yelling at her about being reckless. Then, he'd still trusted her enough to carry all the info she had back to Reeve and the others so they could destroy the reactors. She'd thought then that maybe he’d see her as something other than an aggravating little kid after that. More than just another friend.

Well, she'd been wrong and that was all that mattered now. You live and you learn and she'd done both a lot at this point in her life. What was one more lesson in the grand scheme of things? There would be others after this, too. It was just part of life.

"Sounds like you've got it covered," Vincent nodded in approval. There wasn't anyone better to figure out all the ways in and out of a place than a thief, and Yuffie was a good one when she had the time to plan. 

"Thanks," her smile this time felt a little less forced. Everybody liked having their hard work noticed and praised, after all. "I thought we could go around 8? They roll up the sidewalks here about that time."

"That works. I think I'll try to get some rest this afternoon, then." He was pretty useless when he was tired and no matter how the mission side of tonight went, he needed to be sharp for this conversation with her. 

Unless he could get her in private before then. "Want to join me?"

Oh, _hell_. Hearing the words come out of his mouth made the hair on the back of his neck stand up. They reeked of assumptions and suggestions that were just inappropriate for the public lobby of a hotel. He couldn't deny that the idea of spending the afternoon with Yuffie exactly how his words sounded wasn't extraordinarily tempting, but there was such a thing as respect. Consideration. 

When a man was trying to woo a woman, coming off like a horny teenager was the last thing he should do.

"I'll pass," Yuffie declined as she stood up and stretched. "Dr. Gallagher told me they were going to spend the afternoon hitting the Materia with a hammer and see what fell out. She said if I was on time, I could have the first whack at it."

"Sounds like fun." Vincent breathed a sigh of relief. She was a goddess in human form for ignoring that and he made a mental note to tell her as much. If he got the chance, of course. There was no need to get ahead of himself - there was still a genuine chance she just wasn't interested in him romantically. He'd know soon enough, though. Just a nap and a few hours to go before he would know for sure.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm baaack!
> 
> Things here are still rough around the edges, but mentally and emotionally, we are all improving! Here's hoping that with the return of a routine (though the school year is going to be anything but usual, we are opting in to the remote learning option we were given) I can get you updates in a regular fashion again.

A nap, a few hours, and a meal later, Vincent was faced with a nearly euphoric Yuffie. Apparently, whacking the encapsulated Materia had been fun for everyone involved. 

"...then Freyra and I both hit it at the same time, and so much Materia fell out of the bottom it was like New Years came early. Only," her face crinkled up as she giggled again, "We sorta forgot we were on an incline, so it turned into a Materia-slide down the bank."

Vincent couldn't help but smile. Her laughter was infectious under normal circumstances, but when she was this happy? This relaxed and glowing with simple pleasure? He would challenge anyone to stay stone-faced.

With Materia and its products out of reach, this particular sort of giddiness was a treat to behold. Not that she didn't enjoy things - this was Yuffie. She could probably find a way to enjoy a root canal. But there was something about the little manufactured orbs of raw power that tapped into a deep wellspring of pure joy for her.

Now that he was considering it, that might be the primary reason she had been so determined to have it. But he didn't have to dissect her desire for Materia to appreciate the effect it had on her. Her eyes were shining, shifting from the usual gray to a brilliant almost-purple. Her steps around their hotel room were light as if she was walking on air. She was buoyant, invincible, and breathtaking.

Satisfaction rolled off of her in waves, confidence in the set of her narrow shoulders. This was Yuffie at her best, he was sure. Assured, relaxed, fulfilled. This was a Yuffie who could conquer the world and have the world thank her for it.

He was willing to admit that he might be biased in that opinion.

"How much of it did you keep?" he teased. He knew the answer to that. With everything she had done to obtain and keep as much Materia as she could, she had given it up without so much as a backward glance. The idea of her keeping any for herself might occur to her but he didn't think she would act on it. Not really. 

"Absolutely none," she tossed back, sticking her tongue out at him as she watched Vincent add two more layers to his outfit. 

She wasn't sure how all of these clothes would fit under that trim black leather jacket, but that was his problem. She wasn't thinking about him right now, anyway. Not at all, not by choice and not by accident. She'd just spent a great afternoon with fun people, hitting what amounted to a Materia pinata and then gathering the goodies and cataloging them. It had been hard, sweaty, and tedious work.

But it had been the best afternoon she'd had in a long, long time. 

Godo had been the one to spark her interest in Materia. She couldn't remember a time that he had not linked possession of lots of materia to power. Personal or political, he'd seen ShinRa's theft of Wutai's stores of materia as the last nail in the coffin for Wutai. Without Materia, Wutai had no chance against ShinRa when they sent an army. Fighting magic with blades had cost Wutai lives, it’s way of life, and it's dignity. To Godo, the thing that would have changed their fate was Materia.

He might have been right, Yuffie didn't know. She'd believed him her whole life, left home to find more to bring back the Wutai she knew from the history books. She'd stolen more Materia than anyone needed to know about and inherited a fraction of that total from friends. But the more she lived without it, the more she wondered if her father hadn't been short-sighted in his belief that it was Materia that could save Wutai.

That didn't change the fact that she still adored the little orbs of concentrated magic. So smooth and bright and radiating possibility!

All of the Materia from the pool had still been intact, so handling it felt _so_ right. Like coming home after a long day of dealing with crappy problems and taking off your pants and bra, eating an entire pot of noodles while you danced to your favorite music. Like going to bed without having to set an alarm, or when the bath was exactly the right temperature to be relaxing but also to not get too cold too fast. 

It felt so good to hold it again, getting to hear the gentle hum of it in her hands. The way it sounded and felt in her head. How each type had its own special kind of resonance behind the hum of the Mako. The Elemental's sounded the best, like rustling leaves. She was glad, though that there hadn't been any Summons; they all sounded slippery. Which made no sense if you couldn't hear it but she could and it was nasty. 

She'd been tempted to try some of it out but she hadn't. Even though there'd been a Barrier in there, and nobody ever _saw_ a Barrier, they just felt it. Using Materia altered it and that alteration hurt the Lifestream. Lifestream was too fragile to risk, even just a little bit. There were some things that she just was not willing to do, and that was one of them.

Vincent did manage to make all of his clothes fit under his jacket, she observed, totally not caring and absolutely not staring at him. Because who stared at a guy who was interested in somebody else? Honestly, he was probably already dating whoever that was. As talented as he was when it came to being dramatic, he also chronically understated everything all the time. If he was 'interested' that meant that they were probably practically married by now. So yeah, she wasn't really even paying all that much attention when his second flannel shirt got caught in his zipper. 

"Do you need help?" she asked, like a decent human being, as he struggled with the caught fabric. She was only asking because he was having a hard time. It had nothing at all to do with the fact that his frown was so dour over something so small and it was adorable.

"No." From anyone else, the sound he made would have been a snort, but coming out of him, all breathy and small and quiet it really couldn't be called much of anything. And the way his frown evaporated into a very Vincent sort of smile - just enough of an uptick on the corners of his mouth for her to second-guess if he was smiling or not - forced Yuffie to acknowledge that she had it just as bad now as she had this morning.

She could feel her great afternoon high evaporating now that reality was rushing back to the forefront of her mind instead of just trickling. Maybe it was a good thing that possession of Materia had a steep fine attached to it. She'd probably never leave the house if she had to ride this kind of emotional rollercoaster every day. She for sure wouldn't leave the house to spend any time with Vincent because this was just a mess. Who could live like this? Who would _want_ to?

She took a deep breath and tried to center her thoughts. She could have as much distance from him as she needed if they could solve this whole issue of who was chucking Materia in a Lifestream fissure. The sooner that question was answered, the sooner they could be back in Edge, and she could have several miles between his wine-red eyes and her. It would be a lot easier to get past this stupid crush if he wasn't right in front of her every time she turned around. She just had to stay focused and get through tonight. Surely, whoever was at the bottom of this would return tonight. 

She had to believe they would. Her heart and sanity depended on it.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh no I'm so sorry. August has slipped away from me in a haze of back-to-school, birthday, and various injury shenanigans! I swear I haven't dropped this on purpose! 
> 
> Right, new chapter, sadly short but the person who is in charge of breaking up my chapters feels like being a horrible human being. *looks directly at Canada like I'm on The Office.* She knows what she did.....

Vincent double-checked his pockets, making sure that he had a room key and enough ammunition to keep his mind at ease. Trying to figure out how much he would need was impossible. There was no knowing what they would encounter tonight. The span of 'absolutely nothing to certain death' was vast. 

As they headed down the inn stairs, he asked, "Were there any clues in the Materia?"

"Not really," Yuffie admitted, tugging her gloves on. "There was a mix of everything and the lack of Summon Materia could mean a lot. Or it could mean nothing. There were a few more healing Materia than other things overall but that's what got the most use."

"So, do you still think it's an ordinary person?" More healing Materia did seem to suggest that they weren't dealing with someone violent, but not enough for him to let his guard down. He would have preferred to be more at ease, particularly since it would have made steering this conversation away from work-talk a lot easier. 

"Kinda? But if that's the case, it's someone with access to a ton of Materia over a short period of time. And I just don't know where or how that could happen these days." The rest of Yuffie's excitement from the afternoon drained away with all the talk about the seriousness of the underlying situation. She couldn't complain because if they were talking about work, she didn't have a reason to think about how the wind had caught his hair when they stepped outside.

Blue-black strands caught and swirled, whipping back away from his face, Vincent's profile cutting stark and pale against the dying daylight. Had someone ordered a romance novel cover? 

Yuffie hadn't and tried to resent the fact that she got one. What kind of sick joke was this anyway? It smacked of Leviathan's level of bullshit. She made a mental note to do something about it once she got home. Either making an extra offering at the temple or having some hard words with the drippy old fish the next time it rained. 

Vincent was quiet for a few minutes as they made their way out of Bone Village in the fast-fading light. By the time they had made it to the edges of the Forest, the sun was down and night closed around them. Vincent paused for a moment, marveling at the other-worldly glow of the white trees at night. 

"They are really something else, aren't they?" he asked. 

"I don't like them," Yuffie observed, stopping a few paces ahead of him. Then she conceded, "But they are impressive."

"Why don't you like them?" he asked, taking a few steps towards her. He could think of at least four reasons but he really wanted to hear hers from her lips. 

"Bad memories, mostly. I can't look at them without thinking about Aerith." Yuffie twisted her mouth into a crooked, thoughtful line as the memory of her friend's murder played out in her mind. It was faded around the edges now like memories got when time passed. Or when too much other stuff happened. But that didn't make the pale, ghostly trees any more of a welcome sight. 

"Plus, the fact that they look normal in the day and like this at night? That's just weird," she assessed before starting off again. 

Well, that covered at least 3 of the four reasons he'd come up with, and she'd managed to roll two of them into one. He caught up with her in a few strides and offered, "At least we don't need flashlights?"

She snickered, "Well, there is that!"

They continued on in silence, Vincent noticing that she seemed more subdued now. Her eyes were not as bright, her steps carried more weight. By the time they reached the Lifestream Pool clearing, he was concerned enough about her to ask, "Are you all right?"

She'd been surveying the site again, assessing it this time for a good place to wait out whoever was responsible for this. Somewhere out of sight, but with a good view of the area. Preferably not up a tree, as she was pretty sure if they were out here for more than a few hours, she would either get too cold and fall out, or she would fall asleep and fall out. 

She really wasn't crazy about the idea of falling right now. She'd fallen in Vincent Valentine's presence once before, six years ago and still hadn't managed to get back up again.

"Hm?" She'd actually managed to not think much about Vincent as-a-person on the walk. Now, there he was, that little line between his brows and a tiny frown ticking down the edges of his mouth. How did he manage to make such small expressions say so much?

No, nope, she was not getting sucked into this again. She was getting through the night and not thinking about him like that. 

"Yeah, I'm fine. Where do you think would be a good spot to wait? There's some shadow over next to that rock," she pointed just beyond the clearing's edge.

"Not too tired? Is your knee bothering you?" he pressed. She really did look out of sorts. Even her shoulders were beginning to slump some. Slump and tense up, somehow. 

Yuffie blinked at him then let out a huff of a laugh. "I'm tired and a little sore, but nothing I can't handle." She started for the dark spot she'd pointed out. 

What was with him? Suddenly worried that she was going to screw up this job because she was getting tired? Worried she couldn't pull her weight with whatever they met overnight cause of a bruised knee? 

"Tell you what," she offered over her shoulder. "If I fall asleep, you can report me to Reeve and he can write me up. How's that sound?"

"Unnecessary," Vincent answered, confused. Was she really okay? How could anyone go from being as vivacious and bright as she had been not an hour before, to being this quiet and dull? She was probably lying, though he couldn't think why she would need to. Or how to get her to just tell him the truth.

He followed her to the spot just beyond the rocks and settled into a shadow while Yuffie picked her own dark place.

"I wish I knew how you did that," she groused quietly, nothing more than a slightly lighter place in the puddle of shadow, even with her colorful pullover and neon boot-laces. 

"What?" Maybe she'd tell him without being pressed? 

"Blend into shadows. Is that a Vincent thing or a Plus One thing?" Yuffie could hide in a shadow if it was large enough and dark enough, any self-respecting ninja could manage that. But shadows just seemed to open up and swallow Vincent. It was like he was a part of them; any movement he made became part of the shifting light, even when the light wasn't shifting.

A… a Plus One thing? 

Vincent bit back a laugh, not wanting to make that much noise. She really had a way with words sometimes. "I'm pretty sure that it's a Hellmasker thing," he said. 

Yuffie paused in, settling herself into place and gave him a doubtful look. "Not who I would have expected," she admitted. Vincent probably shrugged if the ripples in the shadow were any indication but he didn't reply and they both settled in to wait.

Yuffie had gotten better at waiting over the years. She'd never been all that _bad_ at it, given the right circumstances, it just had never been her favorite thing. And tonight was no exception. There was nothing to think about except the giant what-ifs of who or what might come wandering by. 

Or thinking about Vincent.

And she was just not going to think about him. 

The effort to not think about him was draining. He was right there. And, while she couldn't actually see him, she was extremely aware of his presence. So she doubled her efforts to consider all the types of people or creatures, or whatever, that could be dropping materia orbs into raw Lifestream.

It wasn't a happy batch of thoughts, and frankly, her imagination got well away from her with hours to fill. So when a teenage boy slipped into the clearing instead of some violent, mako-fueled abomination, she was convinced he was just out for a stroll. Until she saw the shopping bag full of materia he was carrying.


	16. Chapter 16

Vincent appeared out of his shadow and gave her a look. She nodded but held up a hand for him to wait. 

A teenager? That was the one thing she _hadn't_ considered. At least not with any real hope. In her vast experience of the world, when something went sideways, it was at least an adult screwing things up, not a kid.

He wasn't more than fifteen at most. Dressed in pajama pants with the legs stuffed into the tops of muddy rubber boots, he stepped into the clearing, looking like a scared rabbit. Once he was satisfied that all the gear they'd left behind wasn't hiding anyone or anything, he let out a breath and hurried toward the Lifestream pool.

Vincent moved to intercept him, but Yuffie's hand shot out, grabbing his arm and holding him back. He gave her a hard look and she gave him one right back. The silent contest of wills was only ever going to end one way.

Facts were facts: Vincent was a big guy with a big gun. He was quiet, dressed head to toe in black and red leather, had a claw for a hand, and was pale enough to almost glow in the light of the trees. In short, he was scary-looking.

Yuffie, on the other hand, was a riot of bright colors. Pink, purple, yellow, and blue warred with one another in her outfit. And even though her shuriken was bigger than Cerberus could ever hope to be, she was tiny. Tiny and talkative, with a bright smile friendly enough to put anyone off their guard.

Another pair of facts: while Vincent had all the looks of danger, Yuffie possessed nearly all of it in actuality. 

They both knew all of these things. The few seconds of silent battle that raged in the chilly air between them ended with Vincent disappearing into the shadow she'd occupied and Yuffie quietly circling around the rocks to come out on the other side of the pool.

She reminded herself to step on a few twigs and stumble into the ring of light. She didn't need her arrival spooking the boy too much. Not that he took it calmly, startling and shoving the bag behind him so fast that several of the Materia went rolling across the ground. 

Thankfully away from the pool. 

Yuffie really did _not_ want to have to explain to Dr. Gallagher how more Materia ended up in there. Yuffie might be more dangerous than Vincent, but Wren Gallagher was a force of nature. Yuffie was sure that the good doctor could vaporize idiots with a single look.

"Oh," she blinked at the boy like she hadn't been watching him for three and a half minutes already and give him one of her brightest smiles, "Hey! Didn't expect anyone else to be here." She made the snap decision to play this young for now. He'd probably bolt from a bona fide adult.

His eyes were the size of dinner plates and he was starting to edge away from her, only to put his foot on a Magic Materia and land hard on his backside. Poor kid. 

"Whoa! Be careful," she said, hopping over the narrowest end of the pool and reaching out a hand to help him up. Best to force friendship until she had a reason not to. He didn't look like anything but an ordinary scared kid - no weird eye color, nothing glowing, no visible injuries or scars - but she'd seen weirder disguises for big nasties. "You okay?"

"I… You… I'm just…," he stammered, letting himself be pulled to his feet. "I'm fine. Who are you?" 

Yep, just a normal kid. Well, a normal, scared kid. Nobody with any better sense would have just let her manhandle them like that. Just to double-check, she brushed some invisible dirt off his coat. 

Yeah, just a kid. And maybe even younger than she thought because she wasn't sure how many fifteen-year-olds would be okay with that from a strange adult. Either that or he was just that scared. Either way, it cemented him as a completely ordinary person.

Vincent had come to the same conclusion at the same time. The culprit was just some kid. The how or why of it didn't matter right then; he was relieved that they weren't dealing with some new type of horror from the bowels of the Planet. Or from the depths of Shinra's everlasting depravity. 

Either one would have been a possibility.

But the reality was proving to be much more mundane. Yuffie introduced herself to the boy who introduced himself right back, following her lead as if this was a street in broad daylight instead of an ethereal forest in the middle of nowhere. And somehow she'd managed to shave about five years off her age at the same time. 

That, he thought, had to be her eyes, somehow brighter and more round now. Probably the curious tilt to her head, too. And her smile. It lacked the same number of teeth he was used to seeing, which made her less menacing and more gentle. 

How did she _do_ that? Was it some kind of Wutai Ninja Trick? And how could she make anyone at ease in any situation? He considered it a successful introduction if he lapsed into silence after the initial hellos, and here she was, getting more information out of this child in half a minute than he would have managed to get at all.

"Well, Quentin," Yuffie said with a grin, "Pleasure to meetcha! Looks like you dropped something." She bent down, doing her best impression of somebody who's just noticed something on the floor as she picked up the Materia that had tripped him. 

It was a Restore. Mastered by the feel of it. She held it out to him and smiled, "This yours?"

"Uh…," Quentin's face was an entire trip to watch. And not just a trip down the street to grab eggs, but a whole cross-country trek that probably involved a flat tire and at least one unfortunate service station bathroom.

Yuffie felt sorry for him. That bag was absolutely loaded with Materia. Adding to what they'd already gotten out of the encapsulated mass today, this was an insane amount of Materia to have just floating around somewhere. She hadn't seen this much in one place since her last time in the purification labs. 

Something twinged in her brain at that thought but she pushed it aside as Quentin accepted the orb and stuffed it back into his bag before trying to hide the bag behind him again.

"Whoa," Yuffie's eyes went wide once the bag was properly in her sight. "Where'd you get all that?" she breathed in awe.

"Um. Well. So like…," Quentin shifted his weight back and forth on his feet and glanced around the clearing. "Can you keep a secret?"

Vincent had a perfect view of the bag - an ordinary shopping bag, from the looks of it - stuffed with Materia. There was enough for the entire town if he added the amount that Yuffie said had been in the conglomerate from the pool. He had to flatten himself into the shadows when Quentin's eyes flicked over the rocks and counted to ten once he'd turned back.

Yuffie leaned forward, letting her eyes light up and her mouth fall open a little as she whispered, "Only if it's a good one."

It worked. Just like that, every bit of internal struggle he was having melted away and he took a step closer to Yuffie. He opened the bag for her to get a good look at the contents and whispered back, "I found a ton of these in a box in the middle of town years ago. Mom said the WRO would come get 'em, but they never did!"

This whispering stuff annoyed Vincent. Yes, children posed little threat to someone like Yuffie but it wasn't her safety at the forefront of his mind. It was sheer nosiness. What were they talking about? What story was this boy telling that had her features going round in mock amazement? Vincent shifted as close to the edge of the shadows as he dared and cocked his head to hear them better.

Yuffie nodded at Quentin as she tried to estimate the number of Materia in the bag. There had to be between 75 and 95 orbs in there, all different types. No Summons, though. That was good. Something relaxed in the back of her brain. 

Something about a teenager and Summon Materia didn't seem all that wise. And she should know. She'd been a teenager with Summon Materia once.

"And ya know how it's bad for the Lifestream? Well, I figured that if the WRO didn't want it back then the Planet probably did."

Yuffie's mouth was formed into an O now as she listened. He didn't actually have to explain anything else to her because she saw it all, playing out in her mind. 

The WRO hadn't come for the collection box after they'd put it here. Maybe they didn't think there'd be any, maybe they just forgot it in the bales of paperwork they got through every day. She'd find out once they were back in Edge.

But there it sat and this kid watched it. Until….

"So I took it home and stashed it under my bed. Then when this popped open," he gestured to the pool with one elbow, "It seemed like the perfect opportunity! Just throw it all back in and poof!" 

Quentin was so proud of himself. And truthfully, Yuffie was kinda proud of him, too. It was the first thing that the WRO's scientists had thought of. It was simple, straightforward, and should have worked. The only reason that popping Materia into the Lifestream didn't work was because all modern Materia was man-made.

She had to decide though. She either had to out herself as not only a proper grown-up but also WRO, or she had to keep up the act and convince him to hand over all the Materia he still had.

"Whoa," Yuffie drew out the last syllable as she was still deciding what to do. Decision made, she shook her head. "That's so cool. But didn't you hear?" 

Quentin turned his face to hers and said, "What?"

"Y'know how ShinRa made all that, yeah? In their labs and stuff?"

"Uh-huh?"

"Come to find out there's all kinds of other crap in it! Crap the Lifestream doesn't like," Yuffie let her shoulders sag as she rolled her eyes. "Stupid ShinRa," she grumbled with a lot less feeling than she usually would. No need to freak the kid out, after all.

Quentin deflated as he put the pieces together. "You mean," he started, then stopped and rushed to the side of the Lifestream pool. 

Yuffie noticed a tick of movement in the direction of the rocks and shot the shadows a withering look before following Quentin and kneeling down next to him.

"It's gone! It'd just been there, getting bigger 'til this bunch showed up," he frowned hard and looked around the clearing where only the heaviest of the tables and machines were left. "But now… it's…."

He looked up at Yuffie for an explanation and she shrugged. "I saw them in town earlier, all bunched up around a big red truck?" It would be best to let him do all the thinking, here. The less she interfered, the better - she'd committed to the lie, now she just had to follow through.

"Wait, the WRO truck with the crane? It's been here for a few days." He looked back down at the empty pool, then at the bag full of Materia, then at Yuffie again. "I was just trying to help…."

She remembered the feeling that was written all over Quentin. Like you wanted to help so much but were just too small to really do much. But Yuffie knew that sometimes, what you could do was just keep going. Get up and try again. It looked like Quentin still needed to learn that. 

"Wait, if that's a WRO team messing around with stuff," she squinted and cocked her head to one side, giving the appearance of thinking hard, "Maybe they'd know who to talk to about the Materia?"

He was young, he trusted people, and Yuffie just had to hope that _nudging_ him the right direction would be what worked. She'd hate to have to shove. Shoving meant having to come clean to him, and then he'd probably never trust her. Which would mean she'd have to get Official People involved. And that meant this kid that just wanted to do the right thing by the Planet would get in a heap of trouble. 

Official People sucked. She should know, she was one of them.

Quentin blinked at her, some of the fog lifting from his face. "You don't think they'd be mad?"

Dr. Gallagher would be pretty grouchy but Yuffie wasn't about to tell him that. Plus, maybe she'd show mercy to a kid. "I don't think so. I mean, you're just trying to help!"

Vincent held his breath while Quentin seemed to be deliberating what to do. He could only hope that the boy would see sense and….

"Yeah, you're right," Quentin said with a firm nod, standing up and collecting the stray Materia. "They're WRO. And this stuff was supposed to go to the WRO. So I'll just take it to them. They'll know what to do."

Success! Yuffie grinned as Quentin, pleased that he'd caught on and amazed that it had been so easy to get him to this point. "Good plan! Can you make it home from here?"

Quentin nodded, a smile spreading across his face making him look even younger. That thought reminded her, "You're pretty smart. How old are you?"

"I'm thirteen," Quentin said and Yuffie fought to keep her smile, let alone keep it casual. Thirteen?!

"You're really tall for thirteen," she managed to laugh. Thirteen?! He was still a baby!

"I get it from my dad," Quentin said with a pleased grin. "Thanks for the help," he added as he headed off back the direction he'd come. He stopped at the edge of the trees and gave her a wave before tromping off down the path.

Vincent counted to fifty as Yuffie watched the spot where Quentin had disappeared into the woods. Her face changed as soon as she couldn't see him anymore, the teenager act giving way to a perfect mask of shock that Vincent was feeling. When he got to fifty, he rounded the rocks. She snapped her head in his direction.

They both started talking at once as they met in the middle of the clearing.

"Thirteen? What do they feed him?"

"Oh my god, we have to follow him. He'll get eaten!"

"That's rich coming from you, Vince."

"He made it here just fine, he can make it home fine, too."

They both stopped, stared at one another, and smiled. He really did have a handsome smile, even if it was tiny. 

No! She couldn't get sucked into this again. She didn't have the energy right now. The hour was starting to creep up on her. Now that the stress of this meeting was subsiding, she was really starting to get tired. Tired enough that she couldn't quite bring herself to look away from his face. 

"Point taken," she admitted. "And mystery solved. I didn't get his last name but that should be easy enough to find out before we leave." She stood a little straighter, forcing herself to focus on the business at hand and not on Vincent. "Did you hear that he's going to take everything to the team?"

"Yes. A perfect ending." Vincent realized as he looked down into her eyes that this was the opportunity he'd been hoping for. She was right here, this close, the timing was just right. If he was going to try, he might not get another chance. 

There wasn't a lot of time to consider it once he'd realized the opportunity was there. Maybe that was why it was easier than he expected to reach out a hand and tuck a stray strand of her hair behind her ear. "But not as perfect as you."


	17. Chapter 17

She'd been about to snort and tell him that this was far from over. She'd have paperwork up to her ears the next several days and would probably be on the phone while she was filling it out. Coupled with the WRO finance office having no clue what to do with an approved trip cut short. It was out of the frying pan and into the fire for her. It was going to be a good way to pass the time on the way back to Bone Village, too. She could complain about the bureaucracy she helped keep running all day and never get tired of it. 

That's what she was _going_ to do.

 _Was_.

 _Past_ tense.

Because in the microseconds it took her to realize everything that was happening, every thought in her head disappeared. Every word fled at the brush of his fingers over her ear. Every reaction hoofed it into the next reality when he spoke. She'd heard of people short-circuiting before and Yuffie was pretty sure that's what was happening to her right then. All she could do was just stand there, like a doofus, looking up at him with what she was sure was a blank expression.

He had played this out in his head several times but he had not considered this particular scenario. He had come to terms with the idea that Yuffie would not return his feelings. He had considered that she would let him down easy. He had also taken about ten minutes of pure bliss to imagine what might happen if she actually did think of him as more than just another friend. But it had never occurred to him that he would be greeted with silence.

Silence and Yuffie were not complete strangers. She did sleep, she tended to be very thoughtful and introspective when drunk. When she was concentrating on anything important, her silence could be deafening. But, she was wide awake, as her blinking up at him made clear, and the strongest thing she'd had to drink all day was the ridiculously bitter black coffee she'd downed over dinner. Which only left deep concentration to explain her lingering quiet.

That didn't bode well, Vincent was sure of it. The realization sent his mind whirling. The only way out of this was going to be through it - he might have been able to talk his way around calling her perfect, but there was no way to make that touch any less intimate. He didn't want to try to explain it as anything other than what it was, but if her silence was indicative of deep consideration of what to say or do next...

She didn't really know how long she just stood there, dumb as a box of rocks. It was long enough for Vincent's cheeks to turn pale pink and for him to open his mouth to start talking again. Before he could, her ability to talk came back full force. She blurted, "You shouldn't say stuff like that."

'Cause he shouldn't. Somebody could get the wrong idea. Like her. She, Yuffie, could get the wrong idea. Like this idea she was having right now? The one where he meant exactly what he said exactly how it sounded, all soft around the edges and where he'd tucked her hair behind her ear instead of. Well, instead of whatever leaf or bug or whatever that was he was getting out of it. 

Because there was no way he meant that he thought _she_ was perfect. She was pretty amazing, yeah. She'd handled Quentin like a pro, but that was no surprise since she was a professional. But there was no way that Vincent Valentine meant that she was perfect like he said it. Like he thought that _she_ was, not just the stuff she did. He'd made that real clear a long time ago. She might have gotten an upgrade to friend over the years but no more than that. 

Vincent's face felt hot even in the cold. He had the horrible, sinking feeling that he'd misjudged this whole situation very, very badly. "Why not?" he asked as a tense hum started in his ears. 

Yuffie sucked in a sharp breath and tried to let it out in anything less than a woosh. It didn't quite work but she did try. That had to count for something. She had to get a grip on herself before she could get a grip on this situation. She took another deep breath and let it out slowly. That was better.

If she was going to have to explain this to him then she was going to have to do it without giving herself away. Was that possible? Maybe not for just anybody but she wasn't just anybody. She plastered what she hoped was a reproachful grin on her face and dove in face first. 

"I know things were different back before color photography but you can't go around flirting with one person when you're dating somebody else." She rocked back on her heels as an excuse to take a few steps back from him. "That part of the sexual revolution didn't have as much universal appeal as other parts."

The sinking feeling in his stomach disappeared in the face of his confusion. A million questions ran through his mind but none of them managed to stick other than, "Wh...what?"

Why did he have to be this hot even when he was flabbergasted? Because that's clearly what he was, with his shoulders dropping a full inch, the sputtering, and his mouth hanging open. Trying so hard not to think about the dull roar of her heartbeat in her ears, she propped a fist on her hip and shook her head. "You can't get all cozy with me while there's, how'd you put it?" She pretended to try to remember when his exact words were burned into her brain. She needed to paraphrase like it hadn't mattered. "Right, somebody else you're interested in."

It took Vincent a second or two to completely understand what she was saying. Really saying, not just the words that were coming out of her mouth. He'd been concerned he'd been too obvious, too forward that morning when it was the exact opposite. He'd been too vague. His skin tingled with the feeling of a golden opportunity and the air hummed with a stroke of incredible luck.

"Yuffie, the person I'm interested in is you."

Everything was too quiet. The thunder of her heartbeat in her ears had disappeared. Vincent was never all that loud to begin with. Even the breeze in the trees died down so that it wasn't even flipping a single leaf. It was unfair because it made it feel like the entire world was waiting for her to say something brilliant and she had nothing. Not a single thought in her head. There wasn't room for anything, really. This was the exact opposite of what she had braced herself for and a perfect match for her idea of the best-case scenario she knew was impossible. That left very little brain-space for anything but shock.

Impossible. Right, she could latch on to that. This was an impossible outcome, one from her wildest daydreams. She was lucky she had a lot of practice with this particular daydream. Reality was a little different, sure, but she could roll with this. She was THE Yuffie Kisaragi. She could handle anything. Even Vincent Valentine standing in front of her telling her he was interested in her romantically.

"Really?" She was proud of how steady her voice was, given the amount of time she was spending reminding herself of who she was and what she was capable of. It was a simple question, a request for confirmation. She didn't sound shocked because she wasn't. She wasn't hurting for dates - she could be as picky as she liked in accepting them and only really regretted that one a month ago.

But she was proud of herself for not sounding desperate. Or needy. Or demanding. Or anything else that would give away how much she really just wanted him to say yes and… and… and she didn't know what after that. She tended to skip the potentially messy parts in her fantasies and head right to the really good stuff. Imaginary situations were great like that. Reality, she was learning, did not come with a fast forward function.

As a Turk, Vincent had learned how to read people. He thought he was good at it then and believed that he was still good at it now. After all, humanity didn't change so much in 30-odd years as to be completely unrecognizable. People were people no matter _when_ they were. Yet, at this moment, Yuffie had him wondering if he ever knew half of what he thought he knew about reading people.

She was a closed book to him right now. Her face betrayed nothing of what she was thinking. Her voice was so even that if he wanted to, he could swear that she was either angry, thrilled, or bored. There was nothing to read at all. No spark of mischief in her eyes, no twitch in her cheek. She didn't even have her arms crossed, or her chin stuck out at that cocky angle that was her trademark. 

It was simultaneously unnerving and provocative. And it demanded an answer he wasn't sure he could get right.

"If I said yes," he began, watching carefully for any shift in her expression that would help him know what to say, "what would happen?"

Something in Yuffie broke at that question. So he was going to play some stupid game about it, then? Going to just drop the one thing she'd really wanted from him in her lap, then dangle it over her head like some kind of… of… toy? No, she was not going to let that happen. She wasn't enough of a fool to be tricked into admitting she wanted him, especially not with a clumsy attempt like that!

"Very funny," she all but spat at him, crossing her arms and turning on her heel to head for Bone Village. "If you're gonna pick now of all times to start making jokes, I'm out of here."

Something in the back of her head knew she was reading this situation the wrong way, but she ignored it. That part of her brain wanted her to stop, remember everything she knew about him - that he was reserved, not cruel, and a terrible liar. But Yuffie just couldn’t. Her heart just could not handle it. 

There was only so much one person could take. And she’d reached her max of stress, worry, ups, and downs for the day. 


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Heeeeere it comes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry, I know it's Wednesday. What even are days of the week anymore? I certainly don't know.
> 
> I also am not sure about the next update timing. This is as far as I have written ahead, and while I know where I'm going, the time to actually write it all out is short these days. My kid is doing remote learning, and while it's the safest option and isn't horrible, it does take up a lot of time. Overhearing all the lessons doesn't do wonders for my concentration. XD
> 
> Did you know that the silicate rocks of the mantel layer of the earth is softer than the rock of the earth's crust? Also, were you aware that the magma is melted crust rock that got too close to the mantel layer? I probably did at some point but forgot until I heard it on my kid's zoom lesson today. Also, the logic of regrouping is no longer lost on me. That, I know I never learned. I've always liked words better than numbers.

Vincent watched as Yuffie headed for the path, his forehead wrinkled in confusion. A joke? How did she think that he was joking? What had he said that sounded like a prank severe enough to make her that angry?

"I'm not joking," he said to her back with a helpless shrug. "I just want to know…."

He stopped there, suddenly tongue-tied, too shy to completely bare his own feelings. Scared of what she'd say, what she would do with the truth. She was so annoyed with him already, he didn't want to screw this up any more than he already had somehow.

He took a deep breath and let it out before asking, "If I was interested in _you_ , what would you," He floundered through his choices. _Think_ was too detached and detachment had already made her start walking away from him. But _do_ felt too personal, frighteningly intimate. "Say?" he finally managed, cringing at the tremor in his voice. 

The part of Yuffie's brain that really wanted her to be reasonable right now was about to win, she just knew it. She knew it in her bones, heard it in the barest shake in his voice, felt it in the air between them. Knew it like she knew that he wasn't playing some elaborate joke on her. She felt like she was moving very slowly on a Planet hurtling through space way too fast as she turned to face him.

Six years was a long time. And the past six, in particular, had felt like more than a lifetime to her. She could only imagine how it felt to him. Everything was so different. Everything changed. 

Had he changed his mind, too?

God, he looked… confused? Not really lost but definitely like he wasn't quite sure what was going on. At least she wasn't alone in _that_ feeling.

"I'd say 'Really,'" she began not bothering to force a smile. Something tight started to unravel in her chest.

"I'd say, 'About damned time.' I'd say, 'Good' or 'Yay!' or 'Holy shit' or something like that." She gave each quote all the expression and excitement she could muster, throwing her arms into the air on the last one. 

Her shoulders sagged, though, as the tension of keeping this particular secret finally broke. She sighed again, almost whispering. "I'd say, 'That's music to my ears, Vince. Get over here and kiss me.'"

It took Vincent a solid minute to realize that she was doing what he couldn't - putting her feelings into simple, straightforward terms. She meant what she was saying. It took another few seconds for _what_ she was saying to sink in completely. Thankfully, it took him significantly less time to decide that he would take her last example as an invitation. 

She really ought to be used to Vincent being quiet, but at this moment, his silence made her frayed nerves jangle unhappily. She was starting to form a coherent thought around the idea that he had asked hypothetically after all when he closed the distance between them.

Without a word, he cupped her cheek with one hand and tilted her head up to look him in the eye. Vincent cocked his head to one side, just enough for her to understand that he was asking for permission. Something about that made her want to laugh, but it wasn't going to happen because she was too busy staring at him like this was the first time she'd ever looked at him.

Yuffie realized that this was the first time she was seeing him - really _seeing_ Vincent and not just looking. Yeah, he was still one hell of a piece of eye candy even this close up but there was so much more. The lines at the corners of his eyes that only showed up when somebody made him really laugh were there all the time. And his skin was so fair and fragile looking she could almost see his veins through it. There was one, pale blue just over his left eyebrow and disappearing down the side of his face, that she could see this close up. And two tiny mismatched scars on his right cheek and another one on his left jaw. 

She reached out one hand and slid it over his jaw, letting her thumb cross that little scar as she wondered absently what it was from. And wondering if this was happening. Was he so close to her she could feel his breath on her face? Was he really touching her like this, his clawed hand in her hair feeling just like it belonged there? Was she losing it completely and this was some kind of Mako-dream? If it was she didn't care because this was _good_. Better than good. Great. Fantastic. Perfect. 

And why was she thinking about this so much!?

Instead of trying to say something, Yuffie wrapped her hand around his neck, popped up on the tips of her toes, and pulled him down to meet her. Their noses brushed as she tilted her head to the side and pressed her lips to his for the second time in her life. 

She could say with certainty that she'd gotten better at kissing since the last time. She had developed several techniques, perfected a few others, and figured out her own preferences. She learned how to pay attention not only to what she was doing but also how it felt. And how Vincent felt was amazing. His hand ghosted over her jaw, drifting over her shoulder and down her side to rest on her hip. Every nerve that he touched lit up like fireworks and she thought she was going to combust on the spot. 

She couldn't die yet, though. His lips were so soft against hers. He wasn't even trying to slip her any tongue. That was just another thing to make him weird but it was also so sweet it made her teeth ache. Thinking wasn't easy but she hoped that, mako-dream or not, there would be plenty of time to have whatever kinds of kisses she wanted to give him. She was pretty sure that none of them would be exactly like this. 

This close his eyes were lighter than she'd realized. The occasional whiff of leather had been hard to ignore before, the heaviness of it was overwhelming now. And his hair was so fine that his bangs tickled her face. 

Nothing could compare to this.

Vincent could feel her smile start against his mouth and smell her coconut lip gloss, but the most beautiful thing he'd seen in his life was the lights rising in her eyes. Watching them change from dull gray to bright, dancing purple was like watching real magic. She was so warm, everywhere they touched - he could feel her warmth through his gloves, in her arms around his neck, the way she was pressed as close to him as she could be. 

Holding her was like holding concentrated energy. Everything about her was so alive, so vital. Her hair slipped through his fingers like smoke, her eyes sparkled and flashed, and she never stopped trying to get closer to him - a feat doomed to fail with how far he had to bend over to kiss her. 

He could pick her up and make them both happier. He assumed that she would be content with that, but his mouth was too busy with hers to ask. His back was going to cramp up if he didn't move but ending this kiss before he'd even had time to enjoy it was out of the question. 

He wanted to drink her in completely, to fully enjoy the salt-sweet of her mouth against his. The mixture of scents that were hers alone - the tang of metal, the light sweetness of whatever she washed her pullover in. The way she tightened her arms around his neck when he lifted her off her feet, the way she was fighting back a grin that threatened to break up their kiss. It was all perfect. He could stay like this forever.

He would have tried, too, if there hadn't suddenly been a very noticeable addition to the lack of space between them. 

Yuffie's brows came together and she squirmed out of Vincent's arms, the kangaroo pocket on her pullover clearly containing at least twice as much of whatever it had just a few minutes before. Vincent did not want to let her go. But he had to step back once to give her enough room to rifle through the pocket, her face going from confused to more confused as she pulled out two similar orbs of Materia.

"I thought you didn't keep any," Vincent said with a sigh that contained both disappointment and annoyance. Could she just not help it? Was she a pathological Materia thief?

Did he care?

"I forgot I had it," Yuffie said back, her face going on a journey of dawning realization. Her mouth hung open for just a moment as she looked from the newborn Materia in one hand to the encapsulated one Vincent had gotten for her earlier in the day. Yuffie began to laugh. "Well, _shit_."

"What?" He still wasn't impressed. Vincent could understand that a tiger didn't change its stripes. The fact that she was now holding two orbs and one of them was still waxy with it's own newness wasn't doing much for his opinion of the situation, even if he was in love with her.

"I forgot I still had the one from this morning," Yuffie giggled, shoving the new Materia into Vincent's hand. "I'll give them both to Dr. Gallagher when we get back, but Vince." Her giggling gave way to outright laughter and she managed to ask, "What _is_ that one?"

Vincent accepted the orb she offered. He'd make sure that both orbs got to the scientist if she 'forgot' again. He did as she asked though, and his eyes went wide as he realized exactly what was making her laugh until she was clutching her sides.

The whole time she had been with the team, wielding a hammer, collecting and cataloging Materia. The entire time they had been talking through and planning tonight's job. The whole time they had been out here, meeting and dealing with a misinformed teenage boy. The entire conversation that led to that kiss. 

She'd had a Luck Plus on her. A nearly-Mastered Luck Plus, sitting in her pocket, radiating just enough magic to make everything about the day go so smoothly, so easily. 

Vincent could just stare at the orb for a minute as Yuffie started to subside into giggling again. Everything had gone so well for her all day. Particularly with the job and Quentin, but she hadn't complained about her knee hurting nor had she limped even once. All because she'd had a Luck Plus on her. 

"I guess that explains a lot," she hiccupped. "I haven't tripped over anything all day."

Vincent gave her a sidelong look and half-grinned, "Is that what you'd pick as the luckiest thing about your day?"

"Maybe." Yuffie pressed her lips together and hiccupped again. She could feel her cheeks going pink and there was nothing she could do about it. Not that she wanted to do anything about it, but still. Vince was flirting. With her. Right out in the open like that. After he'd kissed her.

He had _kissed_ her. 

Yuffie was pretty sure that if her face got any redder, her whole head would catch fire. So she did the only thing that she could think of. She grabbed him by the front of his jacket, pulled him down to her level, and kissed him again.


	19. Art Interlude!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No words in this update, just this lovely art that I commissioned from https://raymurata-archived.tumblr.com/ about a million years ago when I started writing this fic.

[](https://imgbox.com/qLeaImCq)


End file.
